Dugald Stewart,*) his logical phraseology; and in the View of his Philosophy by his friend Dr. Pemberton, that author having remarked that lord Bacon has judiciously observed, that the neglect of the proper means to enlarge our knowledge, joined with the presumption of attempting what was quite out of the power of our limited faculties is the great obstruction to the progress of science; tells us, that 'indeed that excellent person was the first who expressly writ against this way of philosophizing; and he has laid open at large the absurdity of it in his admirable treatise, intitled Novum Organon Scientiarum: and has there likewise described the true method, which ought to

* Stewart's Philosophy, vol. 2, p. 334, note. In commenting on one of Bacon's illustrations of his Instantia Migrantes, sir John Herschel observes, that

in reading this, and many other instances, in the Novum Organum, one would almost suppose, (had it been written,) that its author had taken them from Newton's Optics.'-Herschel's Nat. Phil. § 198.

be followed.*' The author then gives a summary of Bacon's doctrines; and in the preface he informs us, not only that his work was generally approved of by Newton himself, but that he and his illustrious friend had read a great part of it together. Mr. Maclaurin, too, another of Newton's friends, and one of his most illustrious successors, expressly says, that Bacon is 'justly held amongst the restorers of true learning, but more especially the founder of experimental philosophy;' and adds, that his 'exhortations and example had a good effect; and experimental philosophy has been much more cultivated since his time, than in any preceding period.'†

The merit, however, of Bacon's philosophy, was not only acknowledged in England, but commanded the general admira

* Pemberton's View of sir Isaac Newton's Philosophy, p. 5, et seq.

+ Maclaurin's Account of sir Isaac Newton's Discoveries, pp. 59, 62, (third edit.)

tion of Europe; and, indeed, it appears that at one time his fame sounded louder abroad than at home.* Some testimonies to this effect have already been given;† but many others may be adduced.

In 1633, M. Deodate, a French advocate, addressed a letter to Dr. Rawley, expressing, in the strongest terms, the great anxiety which was felt for the publication of those posthumous works which Rawley had in preparation for the press. So in 1652, only twenty-six years after Bacon's death, Isaac Gruter, writing from the Hague, on the subject of Bacon's works, informs Dr. Rawley, that he had lately received a letter from Lewis Elzevir, of Amsterdam, in which he expresses an intention of publishing a complete edition of Bacon's works, and desires his advice and assistance, 'to the end that,

* Rawley's Life of Bacon, prefixed to Resuscitatio published in 1657.

† Ante, pp. 98, 203, 217.

Bacon's Works, vol. 12, p. 215.

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as far as possible, those works might come abroad with advantage, which have been long received with the kindest eulogies, and with the most attested applause of the learned world.'* The testimony of Des. Cartes and his biographer, will show that Bacon's writings were early and well known among the French philosophers. While Des Cartes,' says Baillet, 'was in Paris in 1626, he heard of the death of Bacon. This news sensibly affected those who aspired to the re-establishment of true philosophy, and who knew that Bacon had been engaged in that great design for several years.' In 1631, Des Cartes visited London, and in 1633, he writes from his retreat in Holland to Father Mersenne of Paris, that "if any one could be prevailed upon to un

→ Bacon's Works, vol. 12, p. 222.

† La Vie de M. Des Cartes, par Baillet, tom. 1, pp. 147, 148; Ed. Phil. Trans., vol. 8, p. 414; Edinburgh Review, vol. 27, p. 226, art. ix., by sir James Mackintosh.

dertake a history of the appearances of the heavenly bodies, according to the VERULAMIAN METHOD, without the admixture of hypothesis, such a work would prove of great utility;'* and in another letter he says, 'I have little to add, respecting experiments, to what Verulam has said.' Gassendi and Peiresc,-two of the most eminent French philosophers of that day, and both friends and correspondents of Galileo,-were among the earliest disciples of the English Philosopher; and the former pronounces the reformation undertaken by Bacon a great and

*Lettres de M. Des Cartes, tom. iv., p. 210; Ed. Phil. Trans., vol. 8, p. 415; Ed. Rev. ut sup. Sir James Mackintosh, in the reviewal referred to, remarks upon the singular disrespect in which Des Cartes always spoke of the illustrious Tuscan philosopher, and accounts for it from his dread of the animosity of the church. This view is strongly confirmed by a remark of Hobbes, (who knew him well, and highly respected him for his mathematical attainments,) which Aubrey has preserved.-See Letters from the Bodleian Library, &c. vol. 2, p. 626.