About Bacon and his Essays

1. Bacon (afterwards Viscount St. Albans), the son of Nicholas

Bacon was born in 1561 and died in 1626.

2. The first edition of the Essays (ten included); the second

edition (forty included) appeared in 1625. Tennyson said,
“ There is more wisdom compressed into small volume than into
any other book of the same size that I know” Many of the essays
are made up of extracts, complied from commonplace books and
his other published works, and woven together into a new whole.
3. There are three divisions of Bacon’s
works: Philosophical as The Advancement of
Learning, Literary as The Essays and Professionals as
Maxims of Law.
4. Bacon made no scientific discovery
as Newton and Harvey made, but he laid the solid foundation of
Science because he was the first man to point out the importance
of experiment in the study of knowledge.
5. The great influence on Bacon is Bacon himself, his own keen
observation of life and manners. He set forth to propound a
doctrine of human conduct – a theoretical scheme in which the
man of active virtue should not be baffled by the vices of others,
but use their vices for his own advantage and the advantage of
the state. In opposition of Aristotle who proffered the life of
contemplation, Bacon cries up the life of action. Dr. Johnson
defined an Essay as “a loose sally of the mind, an irregular
undigested piece, not a regular and orderly composition.” The
essay as a distinct literary form was born in 16th century with the
publication of Frenchman, Montaigne’s Essays. Bacon borrowed
the form from him, but suited it to his own purpose.
 A brief introduction to Bacon’s Essays
2. Of Friendship:
— Whoever is delighted in solitude is either a wild beast
or a god.
— For a crowd is not company; and faces are but a gallery
of pictures.
— A great city is a great solitude.
Summary: Aristotle’s remarks that who so likes solitude is either
is a best or an angle is according to Bacon half true. Friendship
helps disburden heart. If frustration is kept in heart, it causes
depression and tension for man. Friendship brings better
understanding. A man with a friend has two lives. He can do
many things for him and when he dies, he can fulfill his desires
etc. A friend can advise and even praise and flatter us. Friendship
increases joys and lessens the intensity of grief. Man may feel
lonely in a crowd in the absence of love.
3. Of Studies:
— Studies serve delight, for ornament and for ability.
— To spend too much time in studies is sloth, to use it too
much for ornament is affectation.
— Crafty men contemn studies, simple men admire them
and wise men use them.
— Read not to contradict and confute, nor to — believe and
take for granted, nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh
and consider. Some books are to be tasted, others to be
swallowed and some few to be chewed and digested.
— Reading makes a full man, conference a ready man and
writing an exact man.
— Distilled books are like common distilled water flashy
things.
 Summary: Studies are a source of delight in one’s leisure and
solitude. Studies help people develop abilities. It is a sign of
laziness to spend too much time on studies. We should study
important books and find mere summary of unimportant ones.
Books are good companions. Deferent genres and subjects
enlighten our mind differently.
8. Of Simulation and Dissimulation:
— Tell a lie and find a troth.

Summary: The practice of dissimulation is followed by the weak

man, for the strong minds and hearts have the power to tell the
truth. The man of secret nature never gives a hint of what is in
his heart. The advantage of simulation and dissimulation is that
they keep the opposition guessing and unprepared and so to be
easily surprised at the proper moment. They also help us
discover the intentions of the other. The disadvantage is that
they indicate a weakness of the disposition and one who uses
these methods is considered unreliable.