FRANCIS BACON SAID
(PART
ONE)
Francis
Bacon was an English philosopher, statesman who served as Attorney General and
Lord Chancellor of England under King James 1.
He
was born on 22 January 1561 and died on 9 April 1626.
Besides
being an eminent jurist, he had a keen interest in scientific thinking which he
popularized among the intellectuals and common people throughout his life.
As
a literary figure, he is known as the first essayist in English literature. He
published the first edition of his essays in 1597, the second enlarged edition in
1612, and the final completed edition in 1625. The total number of his published essays is fifty eight.
Bacon’s
essays are “celebrated for their intellectual weight, worldly wisdom, and
distinct literary style.” As such, a good number of their contents are quoted
again and again.
Here
are some examples;
*Truth may perhaps come to the price of
a pearl, that sheweth best by day ; but
it will not rise to the price of a diamond or carbuncle, that sheweth in varied
lights. A mixture of a lie doth ever add pleasure.
*Quoting Montaigne, French writer (1533-1592)
Bacon says: If it be well weighed, to
say that a man lieth, is as much to say that he is brave towards God and a
coward towards men. For a lie faces God, and shrinks from man.
*Men fear death, as children fear to
go in the dark; and as that natural fear in children is increased with tales,
so is the other. The accompaniments of death frighten more than death itself.
*Revenge triumphs over death; Love
slights it; honour aspireth to it ; grief flieth to it ; fear pre-occupateth it.
*Religion being the chief band of human
society, it is a happy thing when itself is well contained within the true band
of unity. The quarrels and divisions about religion were evils unknown to the
heathen. The reason was, because the religion of the heathen consisted rather
in rites and ceremonies , than in any constant belief.
(TO BE CONTINUED)
**********
G. R. Kanwal
25 October 2026
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