“ It a “ purpose. But such kind of places greatly help the memory, “ and raise it far above its natural powers.” And we are told by Aubrey, that Lord Bacon's practice corresponded with his theory; for “In his description of Lord Bacon's house at Gorhambury, " he says, 'Over this portico is a stately gallery, where glass windows " are all painted: and every pane with several figures of beast, bird, “ or flower: perhaps his lordship might use them as topics for local memory. The third mode is, he says, by technical memory, of which there are an infinite number of modes, not very highly prized by Bacon, (see page 195 of this work), of which old Fuller says, “ is rather à trick than an art, and more for the gain of the “teacher than profit of the learner3. Like the tossing of a pike, “ which is no part of the postures and motions thereof, and is rather “ ostentation than use, to show the strength and nimbleness of the arm, and is often used by wandering soldiers as an introduction to beg. Understand it of the artificial rules which at this day are de. “ livered by the memory mountebanks: for sure an art therefore “ may be inade (wherein as yet the world may be defective), and that no more destructive to natural memory than spectacles are to the eyes, which girls in Holland wear from twelve years of age.” With respect to the reduction of intellectual to sensible things, Bacon is more: copious in his treatise “ De Augmentis, where he says, “What is presented to the senses strikes more forcibly than “ what is presented to the intellect. The image of a huntsman “pursuing a hare; or an apothecary putting his boxes in order; or “a man making a speech ; or a boy reciting verses by heart; or an Twenty years have scarcely passed away since Sir Samuel Romilly first proposed the mitigation of the punishment of death, His pro. posal was met in the English parliament as disrespectful to the judges, and an innovation by which crime would be increased, and the constitution endangered. During the excesses of the French revolution, the prudence of this country stood upon the old ways, dreading the very naine of change; but these fears no longer exist : timidity is finding its level, and, instead of being perplexed by fear of change, our intellectual government encourages improvement, which, thus fostered, is now moving upon the whole island. In the same first year of the reign of his present Majesty, the fol. lowing laws were enacted: An Act, to repeal so much of the several Acts passed in the thirty-ninth year of the reign of Elizabeth, the fourth of George I., the fifth and eighth of George II. as inflicts capital punishments on certain offences therein specified, and to provide more suitable and effectual punishmeut for such offences. actor upon the stage, are more easily remembered than the notions “of invention--disposition-elocution-memory--and action.” NOTE U. Referring to page lxvii of Analysis. This seed has, for the last two centuries, been apparently not really dormant. It has, during this interval, been softening and expanding, and has lately appeared above the surface. By the labours of foreign authors, from Montesquieu to the benevolent Beccarria, and of various philosophers and political economists in this island, and, above all, of Jeremy Bentham, it is beginning to be admitted that “law is a science,” and that “pour diriger les mouvemens de la pouppée humaine, il faudroit connoitre les fils qui la ineuvent." Commerce has already felt the influence of these opinions, the injurious restraints, by which its freedom was shackled, are mouldering away: and the lesson taught 2000 years ago, of forgiveness of debtors, bas, after the unremitted exertions of philosophy during this long period, been lately sanctioned by the legislature. It is now no longer contended that the counting-house has any alliance with the jail, or that a man should be judge in his own cause, and assign the punishment of his own pain. These errors have passed away. In the first year of the reign of his present Majesty, arbitrary imprisonment for debt, was abolished by the establishment of the Insolvent Court. The same influence has extended to our criminal law. The restraints upon conscience are gradually declining : and the punishment of death is receding within its proper limits, which it has for years exceeded, by the erroneous notion, that the power of a law varied not inversely but directly as the opinion of its severity. An Act to repeal so much of the several Acts passed in the first and second years of the reign of Phillip and Mary, the eighteenth of Charles II., the ninth of George I., and the twelfth of George II. as inflicts capital punishment on certain offences therein specified. An Act to repeal so much of an Act passed in the tenth and eleventh years of King William III., intituled, An Act for the better apprehending, prosecuting, and punishing of felons, that commit burglary, house-breaking, or robbery, in shops, ware-houses, coach. houses, or stables, or that steal horses, as takes away the benefit of clergy from persons privately stealing in any shop, ware-house, coach-louse, or stable, any goods, wares, or merchandises, of the value of 5s., and for more effectually preventing the crime of stealing privately in shops, ware-houses, coach-houses, or stables. May we not hope that during the next fifty years more progress will be made in sound legislation, than for some preceding centuries? and may we not ascribe these improvements partly to the exertions of this great philosopher, who, in his dedication of the Novum Organum to King James, says, “ I shall, perhaps, when I am dead, hold “out a light to posterity, by this new torch set up in the obscurity of “philosophy." NOTE 3 Z. Referring to page 319 of the body of the work. There have been various editions of the New Atlantis. In 1631, it was translated into French, of which there is a copy in the British Museum; where there is also the New Atlantis continued A.D. 1660, by R. H. Esq. wherein is set forth a platform of monarchical government: and also in French, A. D. 1702, avec des reflexions sur l'institution et les occupations des academies, &c. par M. R. I N D E X. Abel and Cain, contemplation and action figured by, 55. of words, 198. necessary union between, 50, figured in Cain and Abel, 55. duties of, 237. poets and historians, the best doctors in the knowledge of, 246. assistance derived by science from, 43. his education, 71. to Calisthenes, 73. his answer to Parmenio, 74. honours rendered to eminent men among, 62. treasured up valuable observations in aphorisms or fables, 266. FF Aphorisms, excellence of, 201. specimens of, 261 to 265. errour of, in mingling philosophy and logic, 49. defects in his labours, 213. assistance derived by science from, 43. predictions of, 171. deficiency in, 112. action of the mind on, 156, good of, in what it consists, 158. a branch of civil knowledge, 259. wisdom and policy of the aphorisms of Solomon for, 260. of things not invented, 148. of doubts and popular errours, 149, 150. how punished for his censure against learning, 22. his writings, 76. his noble answer to Metellus, 78. how influenced by accidents of life, 244. Christianity, preservation of ancient learning owing to, 60. effect of the edict of Julianus against, 60. 153. uses of, and wherein consists their excellence, 200. division of, 106. hath three parts, conversation, negotiation, and govern- ment, 257. necessary union between, 50. figured in Cain and Abel, 55. no deficiency reported of, 259. exemplified in the book of Job, 57. to be trusted rather than words, 271. deficiency in, 194. his answer to Æschines, 21. answer of Alexander respecting, 72. his opinion as to true health of mind, 227. |