LORD BACON. "A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength." PROVERBS XXiv: 5. THIS was one of the men of eminence and talents of this period often alluded to and often quoted, particularly his adage, knowledge is power," which might have been suggested to him from the Scriptures. But he has been far too highly rated: many have alluded to him as an extraordinary man at that period, which may be granted; but, then, if he was great at that period, what was that more extraordinary man, his namesake, the poor friar born at Ivelchester, in Somersetshire, 1214? That wonderful man understood about rising in the air, "the steam engine, steam navigation, organ building, and gunpowder, which was in use by children; it was used in the German mines in the thirteenth century; used in the wars of the third crusade; and used against the Castle of Thiers."* And, as the learned Rabelais has said, "the Almighty put into man's head the knowledge of printing, to counteract the devil's invention of artillery." But the following extracts from one of Lord Bacon's works show that he had but a poor knowledge of sea affairs. He says: "It is a strange thing that in sea voyages, where there is nothing to be seen but sky and sea, men should make diaries; but in land travel, wherein so much is to be observed, for the most part they omit it, as if chance were fitter to be registered than observations. Let diaries, therefore, be brought in use." How short-sighted must he have been when he penned those lines; for, by ships' log-books or diaries, quicker voyages have been made to all parts of the world, they having been the faithful registers of the various currents of the winds. Then, with respect to the philosophy involved in that paragraph, a lady shall answer him. "Ah! wherefore do the incurious say That this stupendous ocean wide Show them its bounteous breast bestows Beauty, and use, and harmony Works of the power Supreme, who poured the flood CHARLOTTE SMITH. This extraordinary man is thus spoken of in Combe's System. of Phrenology: "To judge of the line of conduct proper to be * Digby. followed in the affairs of life, it is necessary to feel correctly as well as to reason deeply; or rather, it is more necessary to feel rightly than to reflect. Hence, if an individual possess very reflecting powers, such as Lord Bacon enjoyed, and be deficient in conscientiousness, as his lordship seems to have been, he is like a fine ship wanting a helm-liable to be carried from her course by every wind and current. The reflecting faculties give the power of thinking profoundly, but conscientiousness and the other sentiments are necessary to furnish correct feeling, by which practical conduct may be regulated. Indeed, Lord Bacon affords a striking example how poor an endowment intellect-even the most transcendent-is, when not accompanied by upright sentiments. That mind which embraced, in one comprehensive grasp, nearly the whole circle of the sciences, and pointed out, with a surprising sagacity, the modes in which they might best be cultivated-that mind, in short, which anticipated the progress of the human understanding by a century and a half-possessed so little judgment, so little of sound and practical sense, as to become the accuser, and even defamer, of Essex, his early patron and friend; to pollute the seat of justice by corruption and bribery; and to stoop to the basest flattery of a weak king, all for the gratification of a contemptible ambition. Never was delusion more complete. He fell into an abyss of degradation from which he never ascended; and to this day the darkness of his moral reputation forms a lamentable contrast to the brilliancy of his intellectual fame. There was here the most evident defect of judgment; and, with such reflecting powers as he possessed, the source of his errors could lie only in the sentiments, deficiency in some of which prevented him from feeling rightly, and, of course, withheld from his understanding the data from which sound conclusions respecting conduct could be drawn." Bacon's salary, when appointed lord high chancellor, was £540 15s. Od., and £250 for each term; for attendance in the star chamber, £300 over and above the said allowance, and £60 per annum for twelve tuns of wine. JUDGE HALE. ACCORDING to M. Guizott, under Judges Hale, Whitelock, Windham, and Rolles, the judicial institutions underwent a total revision they began again to be a protection to the subject against the power of the crown. Just and rational principles of evidence, sounder views of the object of penal laws, and of the proper means of enforcing them, first sprang up at the beginning of the commonwealth. In "The Constitution of Man," by G. Combe, it is stated that "it is a melancholy spectacle to find a man like Sir Matthew Hale condemning wretches to destruction on evidence which a child would now be disposed to laugh at. A better order of things commenced with the chief justiceship of Holt, in consequence of whose firm charge to the jury on one of these trials a verdict of not guilty-almost the first then on record for witchcraft—was found. In about ten other trials by Holt from 1694 to 1701, the result was the same." Oliver Cromwell long wished to engage Hale, and give him office; but he at first refused, telling him, as delicately as he could, he could not serve a usurper. Cromwell told him bluntly, if he could not govern by red gowns, (the English judges wear red gowns,) he would by red coats. But this learned judge, who is commonly known as the "pious Judge Hale," introduced a law aphorism, which may be disputed, and which has been the cause of much severity of punishment, viz., that "the Christian religion is part and parcel of the laws of England." Major Cartwright, in his inestimable work,* " The English Constitution produced and illustrated," (1823,) shows "that Christianity never was an element of the political constitution of England; and those who have strained hard to make it pass for part and parcel of the laws of England, have only attempted to propagate a delusion for ill purposes." In the life of this honest politician, by his niece, there is a letter from Thomas Jefferson to him, showing that "Christianity being part of the constitution arises from a mistranslation. About the year 1458 Finch quotes the cases, and puts Holy Scriptures for ancient writings." Judge Hale left many valuable works and MSS. to the society of Lincoln's Inn, with an injunction they never should be printed: and, when we consider there was then a censureship of the press, (which was a usurpation; for, according to the learned Selden, "there is no law to prevent the printing of any book in England-being only a decree in the star chamber,") this injunction might be very proper. The following rules left by him are worthy the study and : * This work on the old Anglo-Saxon constitution no law bookseller would publish the author, therefore, having taken a small shop for the sale of it in Chancery-lane, it was published and sold there. What a comment does this exhibit of the liberty of the press, and of the state of dependence of the law booksellers only twenty years past! observance of every one called to exercise the very important office of judge: HALE'S RULES. "Love righteousness, ye that be judges."-SOLOMON. SIR MATTHEW HALE, upon his becoming judge, prescribed to himself the following rules, which Bishop Burnet copied from his holograph: Things necessary to be had continually in remembrance. 1. That, in the administration of justice, I am intrusted for God, the king, and my country, and, therefore, 2. That it be done, first, uprightly; secondly, deliberately; thirdly, resolutely. 3. That I rest not on my own understanding and strength, but implore and rest upon the direction and strength of God. 4. That, in the execution of justice, I carefully lay aside my own passions, and not give way to them, however provoked. 5. That I be wholly intent upon the business I am about, remitting all other cares and thoughts as unseasonable interruptions. 6. That I suffer not myself to be prepossessed with any judgment to any till the whole business and both parties be heard. 7. That I never engage myself at the beginning of any cause, but reserve myself unprejudiced till the whole be heard. 8. That in business capital, though my nature promp me to pity, yet to consider that there is also a pity due to my country. 9. That I be not too rigid in matters purely conscientious, where all the harm is diversity of judgment. 10. That I be not biassed with compassion to the poor nor favour for the rich, in points of justice. 11. Not to be solicitous what man will say or think, so long as I keep myself exactly according to the rules of justice. 12. That popular or court applause or distaste have no influence in anything I do, in point of distribution of justice. 13. If in criminals, it be a measuring cast to incline to mercy and acquittal. 14. In criminals that consist merely in words, where no harm ensues, moderation is no injustice. 15. In criminals of blood, if the fact be evident, severity is justice. 16. To abhor all private solicitations of what kind soever, and by whomsoever, in matters depending. 17. To charge my servants, first, not to interpose in any business whatsoever; second, not to take more than their known fees; third, not to give any undue precedence to causes; fourth, not to recommend counsel. 18. To be short and sparing at meals, that I may be the fitter for business. The pay of the three judges of the King's Bench in 1613 was to each, £188 6s. 4d.; being for his fee, £154 19s. 8d., and for living, £33 6s. 8d. At this period there was no fixed salary, and they were entirely dependant upon the crown. ARCHITECTURE. "As it is one of the noblest, is likewise one of the most difficult of the fine arts."-T. HOPE. I Do not intend to criticise the style of the English buildings, but to show what they generally are. There are a few remaining from the Romans, and no doubt built by them, although they have left the country about 1400 years. After the Romans, the Saxons were invited. That people were then idolaters, ferocious, ignorant, and bad builders. Kirtlington church, Cumberland, is supposed to be one of their best specimens, and has had no alteration. The first Saxon churches were in the Roman style: no doubt they imitated, as far as they were able, those they saw surrounding them. Brixworth church is of Roman bricks,* no doubt part of another building. Godwin says: "The history of architecture is a relation of gradual changes, springing out of each other. The temples of India and Mexico carved in solid rocks; then the ponderous Egyptian; then the Grecian, chaste simplicity; then the gaudy Roman; then the beautiful Gothic, or rather Christian, pointed to * "The name of brick was not given until about 1430; they were previously called tiles. Saxon and Norman were generally seventeen and a half inches long, eleven and a half inches broad, and two thick. Those for piliars were generally nine inches in diameter; those for floors and roofs, twenty-two inches square. The forms and sizes changed about the beginning of the twelfth century. The Flemish ones were introduced about 1320: these were of various sizes, some being twelve by six, three thick; others ten and a half by five, and two thick: the cost in 1327 was 6s. 1d. the thousand. "About the year 1490 bricks, intermixed with ornaments of stone, became a fashionable manner of building. In 1500 flints were often intermixed with brick-work, chequered, as an ornament. "From the middle to the end of the sixteenth century the ornaments were frequently imitated on burnt clay, to adorn the fronts of houses and chimney-shafts.”—Architectural Magazine, vol. iii. |