bacon's essay style

Bacon as an Essayist | Bacon’s Prose Style | Bacon as a father of English Prose

Francis Bacon was a famous Essayist of the 16th century and also known as the father of English prose. The collection of his essays was also titled “Essays” which was first published in 1597 and later its second edition was published in 1812 and 1625 respectively.

Bacon as an essayist penned in a methodical way, taking their subject-matter from a collection of perspectives, analyzing them, and writing in distinct prose style, using aphorisms to clearly make a point. He enclosed such subjects as study, love, health, work, truth, travel, friendship, beauty, anger, and so on.

Read more: Renaissance in English Literature

Francis Bacon believed that a person’s mind and personality are expressed through his writing. Therefore if a person had a muddled, unclear and cryptic writing style, then that was an indication that his mind was also disordered and confused. Furthermore if a person’s writing skill was clear, simple and straightforward then that was an indication that his mind was also transparent and uncomplicated. This is very much evident in Bacon’s writings too as he employs short, concise, and aphoristic writing technique in his essays. 

Table of Contents

Bacon’s aphoristic style as an essayist

An aphoristic technique signifies the close-packed and concise style of writing. An aphorism is a terse sentence, conveying the idea in the least possible words. Certainly, Bacon’s essays are replete with such aphorism. His essays amalgamate knowledge with utmost conciseness. The brief, epigrammatic pearl of wisdom in his essays has turned into well-liked mottoes and household verbalism. There are numerous aphoristic lines that we find in his essays. For example in the essay “Of Truth”: “A mixture of lie doth ever add pleasure.” (Francis Bacon, Of Truth).

Through this sentence Bacon wishes to forward the concept that the truth gets more appealing when mingled with a lie in it. Therefore, most of the times, when we wish to protect a lie; we use this pronouncement of Bacon. 

Bacon’s essay “Of Friendship” reveals Bacon’s pithy and laconic style: “For a crowd is not a company and faces are but a gallery of pictures.” (Francis Bacon, Of Friendship).

Read more: Humanism renaissance in English Literature

All the aphorisms of Bacon’s essays amazed us by their freshness and novelty. Every aphoristic sentence seizes us. His laconic style grabs our attention. Basically, they all gratify, excite and delight us because they all consist of priceless ideas, advice, and lessons. 

Bacon’s use of allusions and quotations in his essays:

The learning spirit of renaissance is very much evident in Bacon’s writings. Bacon employs allusions and references carried from varied origins, chronicles, past records, ancient Greek and Roman writers, classical tales, and the Bible. Bacon employs the references of Montaigne and Pilate in his essay “Of Truth” . Similarly in “Of Friendship” Bacon mentions Aristotle. Bacon uses references and allusions so as to elucidate his purpose more distinctly and this also makes Bacon’s prose style more erudite and enriching.

Bacon as a philosopher and a moralist:

As Bacon’s essays show, Bacon is not only a philosopher but also a moralist . A Philosopher is a person who is intensely focused on seeking truth, on the other hand, a moralist is a person who educates human beings on the difference between what is virtuous and what is evil, and encourages them to go in the right direction only. Bacon comes out in this twofold role in numerous essays that he has penned. In his essay “Of Truth,” Bacon states that truth is the ultimate virtue for mankind. In the context of the Bible, Bacon claims that in the first place God made light and the last thing that God made was rational faculty that God gave to mankind. First God passed off light upon substance; then he passed off light upon man, and subsequently, God has been always giving light into the faces of people whom he selects for his unique favor. After explaining all these, we can conclude that these are the investigations of a philosopher-cum-moralist . The main purpose of writing all these essays was that Bacon wanted to teach the importance of truth to his readers.

Bacon’s essays are a storehouse of practical knowledge:

Bacon is regarded as one of the earliest empiricists, building his concepts on investigation of actual life not from prejudices or received facts. Bacon’s essays are a storehouse of practical knowledge. Practical knowledge is a type of knowledge that is compulsory for attaining worldly success. Bacon instructs us on how to advance in this world. Bacon also explains to us how to flourish in life and become wealthy. For example, Bacon writes his “Of Friendship” clearly from a utilitarian point of view. Bacon makes us aware of the “uses” of friendship. A friend simplifies our apprehension and his counsel is most dependable. A friend can take necessary action for us in such circumstances in which we personally cannot take action. Bacon hints to indicate that we require friends only for our worldly contentment and success. It is also noteworthy that he illustrated his essays as “Counsels, civil and moral” which suggests that he wanted his essays to give such instruction to his readers as could assist them in achieving prosperity in civil life while concurrently recognizing certain primary moral values. 

Conclusion:

Francis Bacon also wrote a philosophical work called “Novum Organum” which was his commentary on logic and syllogism. In this work Bacon proposes a new method of logic: he feels to be better to the old method of syllogism.  Bacon was a genuine Renaissance man as he shared his wisdom and knowledge in many different fields like philosophy, science, logic and politics. His technique of essay writing is not adamant and authoritative but willingly he’s own and amiable. For instance in one of his essays “Of Envy” , Bacon does not start with an announcement of envy being dangerous and damaging of pleasure. His style permits him to investigate such topics with an experimental eye that connects experiences to meaning and then only finally unveils his insight and judgment on the topic. To conclude we can say that Bacon was the acute observer of life. Bacon’s essays reflect his vast experience and understanding of men and situations and also of the universe. 

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Francis Bacon Prose style | Stylistic Qualities of Bacon’s Essays

Francis Bacon has widely been read all over the world not only because of his philosophy but also because of his prose style. There are certain stylistic qualities in Bacon’s essays due to which he gained fame. Generally, he is known as father of English prose. He does not only laid the foundation of English Essays but also created a proper writing style. Bacon is famous because of the charm in his stylistic qualities. F.G. Selby appreciated Bacon’s contribution in following words:

“Part of Bacon’s influence is of course due to the charm of his style” F.G. Selby – on prose style of Francis Bacon

Indeed, prose style of sir Francis Bacon is remarkable. Let’s find out some advance features in it. However, before doing so, it is necessary to have knowledge about prose style of former writers so that we can compare it with Sir Francis Bacon.

Former writers’ Prose Style:

Many writers have contributed in keeping prose up-to-date. It was already developed even then it had some drawbacks. Some of the great writers like Raleigh and Hooker were writing prose yet their style of writing was much serious as compared to Sir Francis Bacon due to which it was difficult to write on common topics. Apart from them, some skilled writers had also shortcomings in their writing styles. For instance, length of sentences was too long. Essays were too studious hence extra knowledge was required to read them. Latin words, far-fetched similes and remote metaphors created difficulties for the readers. They lead the readers into obscurity. Practice of using parenthesis was common resulted in ruining the real taste of essays.

Prose Style of Francis Bacon:

Francis Bacon reformed the English prose style by reducing all above said shortcomings. It is not wrong to say that Francis Bacon introduced a new style of prose writing. Following are some stylistic qualities of Bacon’s essays.

Conciseness as one of the major stylistic qualities of Francis Bacon:

No parenthesis:.

Bacon has also removed parenthesis. He has no sentence that requires explanation; therefore, he does not need parenthesis. This stylistic quality of Bacon’s essays, increases interest of readers. Every word is self-explanatory; each sentence explains itself.

Clarity in Prose Style of Francis Bacon:

Rhythm and coherence:, aphoristic style:.

It is an epigrammatic style of writing. All above mentioned qualities fall in it. Aphoristic style prefers describing facts and truths. We know that Francis Bacon does not create Utopian world in his essays. He is known for his worldly philosophy. One can become successful in this wold if he follows him. Hence, his philosophy is based on truths and facts. He may be the meanest kind of person yet he always speaks the truth.

Click to read More about Aphoristic style .

His experience, in every field of life, is magnificent thus he shares it with his readers. He is a moralist though his morality is related to worldly success. His thematic concept is more related to word. His approach is Machiavellian and by giving solid examples from history, he proves it right. He prefers success to honour. As an opportunist, he suggests to avail every opportunity. Effectiveness of his style forces his readers to think twice on a matter.

Weaknesses in Prose Style of Francis Bacon:

There are some weaknesses which are noteworthy. Sometimes his grammatical structure looses. He makes his sentences concise but readers see its effect directly on grammar. However, I must say that it does not affect meanings of the words. Furthermore, he uses excessive Latin phrases which sometimes create difficulty.

Conclusion:

Francis Bacon

A short biography of francis bacon, francis bacon’s writing style, works of francis bacon.

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51 Francis Bacon: Essays

Introduction

by Mary Larivee and Rithvik Saravanan

Francis Bacon (1561-1626), the English philosopher, was instrumental in the development of the Scientific Revolution in the late 18th century even though he had passed away centuries before.  The “Scientific Revolution” was an important movement that emphasized Europe’s shift toward modernized science in fields such as mathematics, physics, astronomy, biology, and chemistry (Grant). It was an extension of the Renaissance period, which then led to the Enlightenment which brought advances across all areas of human endeavor. Francis Bacon, in particular, is remembered today primarily for the “scientific method” as a way of establishing what is true from what is false perception (a method that still lies at the heart of modern science). Bacon’s primary focus in his writings revolved around the practice of inductive reasoning, which he believed to be a complement to practical observation (Grant). Most people before this period followed the Aristotelian methodology for scientific arguments. This idea maintained that “if sufficiently clever men discussed a subject long enough, the truth would eventually be discovered” (“History – Francis Bacon.”). However irrational this sounds, the Scientific Revolution helped replace this outdated system of thinking with Bacon’s scientific method. Bacon argued that any proper argument required “evidence from the real world” (“History – Francis Bacon.”). His revolutionary ideas about empirical information helped propel him toward political and societal importance and fame.

Literary Context

Francis Bacon had a passion for metaphors, analogies, and vivid imagery. He was a rhetorical writer and his essays highlight his wisdom and incisive mind. His first book was released in 1597 followed by later editions with added essays that were released in 1612 and 1625. Each essay that Bacon wrote reveals his knowledge of Latin and draws on ancient Roman wisdom through axioms and proverbs. Additionally, Bacon uses wit as a way of getting his point across to his audience and this indeed causes the reader to reflect on his or her own beliefs and values. A key aspect of Bacon’s literature is its “terseness and epigrammatic force” (De). By managing to pack all of his thoughts and ideas into quick, brief statements, Bacon deepens the reach and impact of his work. His writing deviated from the typical Ciceronian style of the time, which was characterized by “melodious language, clarity, and forcefulness of presentation” (“Ciceronian.”). His statements are meaningful particularly because they are straight and to the point. The brevity of his ideas also facilitates the communication of his arguments, which is significant because, at the time, a solid, meaningful education was hard to come by. As such, Bacon’s work helped spread the notions that would eventually bear fruit with the discoveries of the Scientific Revolution.

Historical Context

Francis Bacon’s Essays cover a wide variety of topics and styles, ranging from individual to societal issues and from commonplace to existential. Another important aspect of the appeal of Bacon’s essays are that they weigh the argument at hand with multiple points of view. Bacon’s essays were received at the time with great praise, adoration, and reverence (Potter). He was noted for borrowing ideas from the works of historical writers such as Aristotle (Harmon), and, as such, he represents a continuation of this philosophical school of thought. Another important impact of the Scientific Revolution and Bacon’s literature is that it allowed common people of the era to question old, traditional beliefs. They began to consider everything with reason, which led to a greater sense of self as well as moral and ethical standards. By having the opportunity to judge for themselves, the people were able to advance society a step closer to a form of democracy.

Francis Bacon Essays is a collection of eight of the famous philosopher’s many essays. Each dissertation contains words of wisdom that have proven to be enlightening for many generations that followed. From “Truth” to “Of Superstition” and “Marriage and Single Life”, Bacon covers a wide range of intriguing topics in order to challenge the human mind to think deeply; as he himself writes: “Read not to contradict and confute, nor to believe and take for granted, nor to find talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider” (Bacon). The philosopher not only provides a framework for the genre of the modern essay but also provides his readers a code to live by.

Works Cited

“Ciceronian.” Dictionary.com , n.d., www.dictionary.com/browse/ciceronian. 23 Oct. 2020.

De, Ardhendu. “Rhetorical Devices as Used by Francis Bacon in His Essays.” A.D.’s English Literature: Notes and Guide , 07 Apr. 2011, ardhendude.blogspot.com/2011/04/rhetorical-devices-used-by-francis.html. Accessed 23 Oct. 2020.

Grant, Edward. The Foundations of Modern Science in the Middle Ages: Their Religious, Institutional, and Intellectual Contexts . Cambridge University Press, 1996.

Harmon, William. The Oxford Book of American Light Verse. Oxford University Press, 1979.

“History – Francis Bacon.” History , British Broadcasting Corporation, 2014, www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/bacon_francis.shtml. Accessed 24 Oct. 2020.

Potter, Vincent G. Readings in Epistemology: from Aquinas, Bacon, Galileo, Descartes, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Kant. Fordham University Press, 1993.

Discussion Questions

• Why do you think Francis Bacon chose to enlighten and inspire his readers as opposed to other writers of his time who focused more on classic folklore tales?
• Why do you think Francis Bacon choose the topics that he did? Who or what do you think had a major influence on his writings?
• What are the goals and intentions behind Bacon’s use of rhetorical questioning?
• What are some common themes and ideas from Francis Bacon’s Essays that can be applied to general situations and contemporary society?
• From the ideas presented in this reading, how do you think Francis Bacon’s work affected government policies throughout history, including modern day governmental standards?

Further Resources

• Detailed biography of Franics Bacon’s life
• Analytical article of Francis Bacon’s impact on the Scientific Revolution
• List of Francis Bacon’s most significant accomplishments
• Compilation of Francis Bacon’s literature
• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on Francis Bacon
• Discussion video of Francis Bacon’s “Of Studies”

Reading: From Essayes

I. of truth..

What is truth? said jesting Pilate; and would not stay for an answer. Certainly there be that delight in giddiness; and count it a bondage to fix a belief; affecting free-will in thinking, as well as in acting. And though the sects of philosophers of that kind be gone, yet there remain certain discoursive wits, which are of the same veins, though there be not so much blood in them as was in those of the ancients. But it is not only the difficulty and labour which men take in finding out of truth, nor again, that when it is found, it imposeth upon men’s thoughts, that doth bring lies in favour, but a natural though corrupt love of the lie itself. One of the later schools of the Grecians examineth the matter, and is at a stand to think what should be in it, that men should love lies; where neither they make for pleasure, as with poet; nor for advantage, as with the mer chant, but for the lie’s sake. But I cannot tell: this same truth is a naked and open daylight, that doth not show the masks, and mummeries, and triumphs of the world, half so stately and daintily as candlelights. Truth may perhaps come to the price of a pearl, that showeth best by day, but it will not rise to the price of a diamond or carbuncle, that showeth best in varied lights. A mixture of a lie doth ever add pleasure. Doth any man doubt, that if there were taken out of men’s minds, vain opinions, flattering hopes, false valuations, imaginations as one would, and the like, but it would leave the minds of a number of men, poor shrunken things, full of melancholy and indisposition, and unpleasing to themselves? One of the fathers, in great severity, called poesy “vinum dæmonum,”; because it filleth the imagination, and yet it is but with the shadow of a lie. But it is not the lie that passeth through the mind, but the lie that sinketh in, and settleth in it, that doth the hurt, such as we spake of before. But howsoever these things are thus in men’s depraved judgments and affections, yet truth, which only doth judge itself, teacheth, that the inquiry of truth, which is the love-making, or wooing of it, the knowledge of truth, which is the presence of it, and the belief of truth, which is the enjoying of it, is the sovereign good of human nature. The first creature of God, in the works of the days, was the light of the sense: the last was the light of reason; and his Sabbath work ever since, is the illumination of his Spirit. First, he breathed light upon the face of the matter, or chaos; then he breathed light into the face of man; and still he breatheth and inspireth light into the face of his chosen. The poet that beautified the sect, that was otherwise inferior to the rest, saith yet excellently well: “It is a pleasure to stand upon the shore, and to see ships tossed upon the sea: a pleasure to stand in the window of a castle, and to see a battle, and the adventures thereof below: but no pleasure is comparable to the standing upon the vantage ground of truth, (a hill not to be commanded, and where the air is always clear and serene,) and to see the errors, and wanderings, and mists, and tempests in the vale below:” so always that this prospect be with pity, and not with swelling or pride. Certainly, it is heaven upon earth, to have a man’s mind move in charity, rest in providence, and turn upon the poles of truth.

To pass from theological and philosophical truth, to the truth of civil business; it will be acknowledged even by those that practise it not, that clean and round dealing is the honour of man’s nature, and that mixture of falsehood is like alloy in coin of gold and silver, which may make the metal work the better, but it embaseth it. For these winding and crooked courses are the goings of the serpent; which goeth basely upon the belly, and not upon the feet. There is no vice that doth so cover a man with shame as to be found false and perfidious; and therefore Montaigne saith prettily, when he inquired the reason, why the word of the lie should be such a disgrace, and such an odious charge, saith he, “If it be well weighed, to say that a man lieth, is as much as to say, that he is brave towards God, and a coward towards men. For a lie faces God, and shrinks from man.” Surely the wickedness of falsehood and breach of faith cannot possibly be so highly expressed, as in that it shall be the last peal to call the judgments of God upon the generations of men: it being foretold, that when “Christ cometh,” he shall not “find faith upon the earth.”

VIII. OF MARRIAGE AND SINGLE LIFE.

He that hath wife and children hath given hostages to fortune; for they are impediments to great enterprises, either of virtue or mischief. Certainly the best works, and of greatest merit for the public, have proceeded from the unmarried or childless men; which, both in affection and means, have married and endowed the public. Yet it were great reason that those that have children should have greatest care of future times, unto which they know they must transmit their dearest pledges. Some there are, who, though they lead a single life, yet their thoughts do end with themselves, and account future times impertinences; nay, there are some other that account wife and children but as bills of charges; nay more, there are some foolish rich covetous men, that take a pride in having no children, because they may be thought so much the richer; for, perhaps, they have heard some talk, “Such an one’s a great rich man” and another except to it. “Yea, but he hath a great charge of children;” as if it were an abatement to his riches: but the most ordinary cause of a single life is liberty, especially in certain self-pleasing and humorous minds, which are so sensible of every restraint, as they will go near to think heir girdles and garters to be bonds and shackles. Unmarried men are best friends, best masters, best servants; but not always best subjects; for they are light to run away; and almost all fugitives are of that condition. A single life doth well with churchmen, for charity will hardly water the ground where it must first fill a pool. It is indifferent for judges and magistrates; for if they be facile and corrupt, you shall have a servant five times worse than a wife. For soldiers, I find the generals commonly, in their hortatives, put men in mind of their wives and children; and I think the despising of marriage among the Turks maketh the vulgar soldier more base. Certainly wife and children are a kind of discipline of humanity; and single men, though they may be many times more charitable, because their means are less exhaust, yet, on the other side, they are more cruel and hardhearted, (good to make severe inquisitors,) because their tenderness is not so oft called upon. Grave natures, led by custom, and therefore constant, are commonly loving husbands, as was said of Ulysses, “vetulam suam prætulit immortalitati.” Chaste women are often proud and froward, as presuming upon the merit of their chastity. It is one of the best bonds, both of chastity and obedience, in the wife, if she think her husband wise; which she will never do if she find him jealous. Wives are young men’s mistresses, companions for middle age, and old men’s nurses; so as a man may have a quarrel to marry when he will: but yet he was reputed one of the wise men, that made answer to the question when a man should marry:—”A young man not yet, an elder man not at all.” It is often seen, that bad husbands have very good wives; whether it be that it raiseth the price of their husband’s kindness when it comes, or that the wives take a pride in their patience; but this never fails, if the bad husbands were of their own choosing, against their friends consent, for then they will be sure to make good their own folly.

XI. OF GREAT PLACE.

Men in great place are thrice servants; servants of the sovereign or state, servants of fame, and servants of business; so as they have no freedom, neither in their persons, nor in their actions, nor in their times. It is a strange desire to seek power and to lose liberty; or to seek power over others, and to lose power over a man’s self. The rising unto place is laborious, and by pains men come to greater pains; and it is sometimes base, and by indignities men come to dignities. The standing is slippery, and the regress is either a downfall, or at least an eclipse, which is a melancholy thing: “Cum non sis qui fueris, non esse cur velis vivere.” Nay, retire men cannot when they would, neither will they when it were reason; but are impatient of privateness even in age and sickness, which require the shadow: like old townsmen, that will be still sitting at their street door, though thereby they offer age to scorn. Certainly great persons had need to borrow other men’s opinions to think themselves happy; for if they judge by their own feeling, they cannot find it: but if they think with themselves what other men think of them, and that other men would fain be as they are, then they are happy as it were by report, when, perhaps, they find the contrary within; for they are the first that find their own griefs, though they be the last that find their own faults. Certainly men in great fortunes are strangers to themselves, and while they are in the puzzle of business they have no time to tend their health either of body or mind: “Illi mors gravis incubat, qui notus nimis omnibus, ignotus moritur sibi.” In place there is license to do good and evil; whereof the latter is a curse: for in evil the best condition is not to will; the second not to can. But power to do good is the true and lawful end of aspiring; for good thoughts (though God accept them,) yet towards men are little better than good dreams, except they be put in act; and that cannot be without power and place, as the vantage and commanding ground. Merit and good works is the end of man’s motion; and conscience of the same is the accomplishment of man’s rest; for if a man can be partaker of God’s theatre, he shall likewise be partaker of God’s rest: “Et conversus Deus, ut aspiceret opera, quaæ fecerunt manus suæ, vidit quod omnia essent bona nimis;” and then the sabbath. In the discharge of the place set before thee the best examples; for imitation is a globe of precepts; and after a time set before thine own example; and examine thyself strictly whether thou didst not best at first. Neglect not also the examples of those that have carried themselves ill in the same place; not to set off thyself by taxing their memory, but to direct thyself what to avoid. Reform, therefore, without bravery or scandal of former times and persons; but yet set it down to thyself, as well to create good precedents as to follow them. Reduce things to the first institution, and observe wherein and how they have degenerated; but yet ask counsel of both times; of the ancienter time what is best; and of the latter time what is fittest. Seek to make thy course regular, that men may know be forehand what they may expect; but be not too positive and peremptory; and express thyself well when thou digressest from thy lure. Preserve the right of thy place, but stir not questions of jurisdiction; and rather assume thy right in silence, and “de facto,” than voice it with claims and challenges. Preserve likewise the rights of inferior places; and think it more honour to direct in chief than to be busy in all. Embrace and invite helps and advices touching the execution of thy place; and do not drive away such as bring thee information as meddlers, but accept of them in good part. The vices of authority are chiefly four; delays, corruption, roughness, and facility. For delays give easy access: keep times appointed; go through with that which is in hand, and interlace not business but of necessity. For corruption, do not only bind thine own hands or thy servant’s hands from taking, but bind the hands of suitors also from offering; for integrity used doth the one; but integrity professed, and with a manifest detestation of bribery, doth the other; and avoid not only the fault, but the suspicion. Whosoever is found variable, and changeth manifestly without manifest cause, giveth suspicion of corruption; therefore, always when thou changest thine opinion or course, profess it plainly, and declare it, together with the reasons that move thee to change, and do not think to steal it. A servant or a favourite, if he be inward, and no other apparent cause of esteem, is commonly thought but a by-way to close corruption. For roughness, it is a needless cause of discontent; severity breedeth fear, but roughness breedeth hate. Even reproofs from authority ought to be grave, and not taunting. As for facility, it is worse than bribery; for bribes come but now and then; but if importunity or idle respects lead a man, he shall never be without; as Solomon saith, “To respect persons is not good, for such a man will transgress for a piece of bread.” It is most true that was anciently spoken, “A place showeth the man; and it showeth some to the better and some to the worse;” “omnium consensu capax imperii, nisi imperasset,” saith Tacitus of Galba; but of Vespasian he saith, “solus imperantium, Vespasianus mutatus in melius;” though the one was meant of sufficiency, the other of manners and affection. It is an assured sign of a worthy and generous spirit, whom honour amends; for honour is, or should be, the place of virtue; and as in nature things move violently to their place and calmly in their place, so virtue in ambition is violent, in authority settled and calm. All rising to great place is by a winding stair; and if there be factions, it is good to side a man’s self whilst he is in the rising, and to balance himself when he is placed. Use the memory of thy predecessor fairly and tenderly; for if thou dost not, it is a debt will sure be paid when thou art gone. If thou have colleagues, respect them; and rather call them when they looked not for it, than exclude them when they have reason to look to be called. Be not too sensible or too remembering of thy place in conversation and private answers to suitors; but let it rather be said, “When he sits in place he is another man.”

XVII. OF SUPERSTITION.

It were better to have no opinion of God at all than such an opinion as is unworthy of him; for the one is unbelief, the other is contumely; and certainly superstition is the reproach of the Deity. Plutarch saith well to that purpose: “Surely,” saith he, “I had rather a great deal men should say there was no such man at all as Plutarch, than that they should say that there was one Plutarch, that would eat his children as soon as they were born:” as the poets speak of Saturn: and, as the contumely is greater towards God, so the danger is greater towards men. Atheism leaves a man to sense, to philosophy, to natural piety, to laws, to reputation: all which may be guides to an outward moral virtue, though religion were not; but superstition dismounts all these, and erecteth an absolute monarchy in the minds of men: therefore atheism did never perturb states; for it makes men wary of themselves, as looking no further, and we see the times inclined to atheism (as the time of Augustus Cæsar) were civil times: but superstition hath been the confusion of many states, and bringeth in a new “primum mobile,” that ravisheth all the spheres of government. The master of superstition is the people, and in all superstition wise men follow fools; and arguments are fitted to practice, in a reversed order. It was gravely said, by some of the prelates in the council of Trent, where the doctrine of the schoolmen bare great sway, that the schoolmen were like astronomers, which did feign eccentrics and epicycles, and such engines of orbs to save phenomena, though they knew there were no such things; and, in like manner, that the schoolmen had framed a number of subtle and intricate axioms and theorems, to save the practice of the church. The causes of superstition are, pleasing and sensual rites and ceremonies; excess of outward and pharisaical holiness; over great reverence of traditions, which cannot but load the church; the stratagems of prelates for their own ambition and lucre; the favouring too much of good intentions, which openeth the gate to conceits and novelties; the taking an aim at divine matters by human, which cannot but breed mixture of imaginations; and, lastly, barbarous times, especially joined with calamities and disasters. Superstition, without a veil, is a deformed thing: for as it addeth deformity to an ape to be so like a man, so the similitude of superstition to religion makes it the more deformed: and, as wholesome meat corrupteth to little worms, so good forms and  orders corrupt into a number of petty observances. There is a superstition in avoiding superstition, when men think to do best if they go furthest from the superstition formerly received; therefore care would be had that (as it fareth in ill purgings) the good be not taken away with the bad, which commonly is done when the people is the reformer.

XXXIII. OF PLANTATIONS.

Plantations are amongst ancient, primitive, and heroical works. When the world was young, it begat more children; but now it is old, it begets fewer; for I may justly account new plantations to be the children of former kingdoms. I like a plantation in a pure soil; that is, where people are not displanted to the end to plant in others; for else it is rather an extirpation than a plantation. Planting of countries is like planting of woods; for you must make account to lose almost twenty years profit, and expect your recompense in the end: for the principal thing that hath been the destruction of most plantations, hath been the base and hasty drawing of profit in the first years. It is true, speedy profit is not to be neglected, as far as may stand with the good of the plantation, but no further. It is a shameful and unblessed thing to take the scum of people and wicked condemned men, to be the people with whom you plant; and not only so, but it spoileth the plantation; for they will ever live like rogues, and not fall to work, but be lazy, and do mischief, and spend victuals, and be quickly weary, and then certify over to their country to the discredit of the plantation. The people wherewith you plant ought to be gardeners, ploughmen, labourers, smiths, carpenters, joiners, fishermen, fowlers, with some few apothecaries, surgeons, cooks, and bakers. In a country of plantation, first look about what kind of victual the country yields of itself to hand; as chestnuts, walnuts, pineapples, olives, dates, plums, cherries, wild honey, and the like, and make use of them. Then consider what victual, or esculent things there are which grow speedily and within the year: as parsnips, carrots, turnips, onions, radish, artichokes of Jerusalem, maize, and the like: for wheat, barley, and oats, they ask too much labour; but with pease and beans you may begin, both because they ask less labour, and because they serve for meat as well as for bread; and of rice likewise cometh a great increase, and it is a kind of meat. Above all, there ought to be brought store biscuit, oatmeal, flour, meal, and the like, in the beginning, till bread may be had. For beasts, or birds, take chiefly such as are least subject to diseases, and multiply fastest; as swine, goats, cocks, hens, turkeys, geese, house-doves, and the like. The victual in plantations ought to be expended almost as in a besieged town; that is, with certain allowance: and let the main part of the ground employed to gardens or corn, be to a common stock; and to be laid in, and stored up, and then delivered out in proportion; besides some spots of ground that any particular person will manure for his own private use. Consider, likewise, what commodities the soil where the plantation is doth naturally yield, that they may some way help to defray the charge of the plantation; so it be not, as was said, to the untimely prejudice of the main business, as it hath fared with tobacco in Virginia. Wood commonly aboundeth but too much: and therefore timber is fit to be one. If there be iron ore, and streams whereupon to set the mills, iron is a brave commodity where wood aboundeth. Making of bay-salt, if the climate be proper for it, would be put in experience: growing silk likewise, if any be, is a likely commodity: pitch and tar, where store of firs and pines are, will not fail; so drugs and sweet woods, where they are, cannot but yield great profit; soap-ashes likewise, and other things that may be thought of; but moil not too much under ground, for the hope of mines is very uncertain and useth to make the planters lazy in other things. For government, let it be in the hands of one, assisted with some counsel; and let them have commission to exercise martial laws, with some limitation; and, above all, let men make that profit of being in the wilderness, as they have God always, and his service before their eyes; let not the government of the plantation depend upon too many counsellors and undertakers in the country that planteth, but upon a temperate number; and let those be rather noblemen and gentle men, than merchants; for they look ever to the present gain: let there be freedoms from custom, till the plantation be of strength; and not only freedom from custom, but freedom to carry their commodities where they may make their best of them, except there be some special cause of caution. Cram not in people, by sending too fast, company after company; but rather hearken how they waste, and send supplies proportionably; but so as the number may live well in the plantation, and not by surcharge be in penury. It hath been a great endangering to the health of some plantations, that they have built along the sea and rivers in marish and unwholesome grounds: therefore, though you begin there, to avoid carriage and other like discommodities, yet build still rather upwards from the stream, than along. It concerneth likewise the health of the plantation that they have good store of salt with them, that they may use it in their victuals when it shall be necessary. If you plant where savages are, do not only entertain them with trifles and gingles, but use them justly and graciously, with sufficient guard nevertheless; and do not win their favour by helping them to invade their enemies, but for their defence it is not amiss: and send oft of them over to the country that plants, that they may see a better condition than their own, and commend it when they return. When the plantation grows to strength, then  it is time to plant with women as well as with men; that the plantation may spread into generations, and not be ever pieced from without. It is the sinfullest thing in the world to forsake or destitute a plantation once in forwardness; for, besides the dishonour, it is the guiltiness of blood of many commiserable persons.

XLVII. OF NEGOTIATING.

It is generally better to deal by speech than by letter; and by the mediation of a third than by a man’s self. Letters are good when a man would draw an answer by letter back again; or when it may serve for a man’s justification afterwards to produce his own letter; or where it may be danger to be interrupted, or heard by pieces. To deal in person is good, when a man’s face breedeth regard, as commonly with inferiors; or in tender cases, where a man’s eye upon the countenance of him with whom he speaketh, may give him a direction how far to go; and generally, where a man will reserve to himself liberty either to disavow or to expound. In choice of instruments, it is better to choose men of a plainer sort, that are like to do that that is committed to them, and to report back again faithfully the success, than those that are cunning to contrive out of ether men’s business somewhat to grace themselves, and will help the matter in report, for satisfaction sake. Use also such persons as affect the business wherein they are employed, for that quickeneth much; and such as are fit for the matter, as bold men for expostulation, fair-spoken men for persuasion, crafty men for inquiry and observation, froward and absurd men for business that doth not well bear out itself. Use also such as have been lucky and prevailed before in things wherein you have employed them; for that breeds confidence, and they will strive to maintain their prescription. It is better to sound a person with whom one deals afar off, than to fall upon the point at first; except you mean to surprise him by some short question. It is better dealing with men in appetite, than with those that are where they would be. If a man deal with another upon conditions, the start of first performance is all; which a man can reasonably demand, except either the nature of the thing be such, which must go before: or else a man can persuade the other party, that he shall still need him in some other thing; or else that he be counted the honester man. All practice is to discover, or to work. Men discover themselves in trust, in passion, at unawares; and of necessity, when they would have somewhat done, and cannot find an apt pretext, if you would work any man, you must either know his nature and fashions, and so lead him; or his ends, and so persuade him; or his weakness and disadvantages, and so awe him; or these that have interest in him, and so govern him. In dealing with cunning persons, we must ever consider their ends, to interpret their speeches; and it is good to say little to them, and that which they least look for. In all negotiations of difficulty, a man may not look to sow and reap at once; but must prepare business, and so ripen it by degrees.

XXXVII. OF MASQUES AND TRIUMPHS.

These things are but toys to come amongst such serious observations; but yet, since princes will have such things, it is better they should be graced with elegancy, than daubed with cost. Dancing to song, is a thing of great state and pleasure. I understand it that the song be inquire, placed aloft, and accompanied by some broken music; and the ditty fitted to the device. Acting in song, especially in dialogues, hath an extreme good grace; I say acting, not dancing, (for that is a mean and vulgar thing;) and the voices of the dialogue would be strong and manly, (a base and a tenor, no treble,) and the ditty high and tragical, not nice or dainty. Several quires placed one over against another, and taking the voice by catches anthem-wise, give great pleasure. Turning dances into figure is a childish curiosity; and generally let it be noted, that those things which  I here set down are such as do naturally take the sense, and not respect petty wonderments. It is true, the alterations of scenes, so it be quietly and without noise, are things of great beauty and pleasure; for they feed and relieve the eye before it be full of the same object. Let the scenes abound with light, especially coloured and varied; and let the masquers, or any other that are to come down from the scene, have some motions upon the scene it self before their coining down; for it draws the eye strangely, and makes it with great pleasure to desire to see that it cannot perfectly discern. Let the songs be loud and cheerful, and not chirpings or pulings: let the music likewise be sharp and loud, and well placed. The colours that show best by candle-light, are white, carnation, and a kind of sea-water green and ouches, or spangs, as they are of no great cost, so they are of most glory. As for rich embroidery, it is lost and not discerned. Let the suits of the masquers be graceful, and such as become the person when the vizards are off; not after examples of known attires; Turks, soldiers, mariners, and the like. Let anti-masques not be long; they have been commonly of fools, satyrs, baboons, wild men antics, beasts, spirits, witches, Ethiopes, pigmies turquets, nymphs, rustics, Cupids, statues moving and the like. As for angels, it is not comical enough to put them in anti-masques; and any thing that is hideous, as devils, giants, is, on the other side as unfit; but chiefly, let the music of them be recreative, and with some strange changes. Some sweet odours suddenly coming forth, without any drops falling, are, in such a company as there is steam and heat, things of great pleasure and refreshment. Double masques, one of men another of ladies, addeth state and variety; but all is nothing except the room be kept clean and neat.

For jousts, and tourneys, and barriers, the glories of them are chiefly in the chariots, wherein the challengers make their entry; especially if they be drawn with strange beasts; as lions, bears camels, and the like; or in the devices of their entrance, or in bravery of their liveries, or in the goodly furniture of their horses and armour. But enough of these toys.

L. OF STUDIES.

Studies serve for delight, for ornament and for ability. Their chief use for delight, is in privateness and retiring; for ornament, is in discourse; and for ability, is in the judgment and disposition of business; for expert men can execute, and perhaps judge of particulars, one by one: but the general counsels, and the plots and marshalling of affairs come best from those that are learned. To spend too much time in studies, is sloth; to use them too much for ornament, is affectation; to make judgment wholly by their rules, is the humour of a scholar: they perfect nature, and are perfected by experience: for natural abilities are like natural plants, that need pruning by study; and studies themselves do give forth directions too much at large, except they be bounded in by experience. Crafty men contemn studies, simple men admire them, and wise men use them; for they teach not their own use; but that is a wisdom without them, and above them, won by observation. 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; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention. Some books also may be read by deputy, and extracts made of them by others; but that would be only in the less important arguments, and the meaner sort of books; else distilled books are, like common distilled waters, flashy things. Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man; and, therefore, if a man write little, he had need have a great memory; if he confer little, he had need have a present wit: and if he read little, he had need have much cunning, to seem to know that he doth not. Histories make men wise; poets witty; the mathematics subtile; natural philosophy deep; moral, grave; logic and rhetoric, able to contend “Abeunt studia in mores;” nay, there is no stond or impediment in the wit, but may be wrought out by fit studies: like as diseases of the body may have appropriate exercises; bowling is good for the stone and reins, shooting for the lungs and breast, gentle walking for the stomach, riding for the head, and the like; so, if a man’s wit be wandering, let him study the mathematics; for in demonstrations, if his wit be called away never so little, he must begin again; if his wit be no apt to distinguish or find differences, let him study the schoolmen, for they are “Cymini sectores;” if he be not apt to beat over matters, and to call upon one thing to prove and illustrate another, let him study the lawyer’s cases: so every defect of the mind may have a special receipt.

Source Text:

Bacon, Francis. Bacon’s Essays and Wisdom of the Ancients . Little, Brown, and Company, 1884, is licensed under no known copyright.

An Open Companion to Early British Literature Copyright © 2019 by Allegra Villarreal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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25 Francis Bacon Essays

Dr Madhumita Majumdar

In this chapter we shall discuss:

• A brief introduction to Francis Bacon
•  Of Studies
•  Of Discourse
• Bacon style as an essayist

Knowing Francis Bacon

Francis Bacon, Viscount Saint Alban, Lord Chancellor of England (1618–21) was the son of Sir Nicolas Bacon, Lord Keeper of the Seal. His mother was Lady Anne Cooke Bacon, his father’s second wife and daughter to Sir Anthony Cooke, a humanist who was also Edward VI’s tutor. Francis Bacon’s mother happened to be incidentally the sister-in-law of Lord Burghley. Thus from a tender age, Bacon found himself exposed to an atmosphere of humanist scholarship. Young Francis Bacon began attending Trinity College, Cambridge, from April 1573, when he had been just an eleven year old. After having completed his education from Trinity in December 1575; the very next year he joined a law program at Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn. Given his temperament, it was expected that he found the curriculum at Gray’s Inn old fashioned. Bacon was strong in his criticism of his teachers who he agreed were surely men of wits but never explored beyond a few authors and were chiefly stagnating themselves with an author like Aristotle. What did then Bacon favour? The answer – the new Renaissance humanism over Aristotelianism and scholasticism: the more traditional schools of thought in England to a more humanistic approach.

Things turned difficult for the talented Francis when his father passed away suddenly and this meant he had to sustain on a meagre inheritance. Desperate he turned to his uncle, Lord Burghley who was in no  mood help the hapless teen. Thus Francis was left with a struggle of earning a decent earning for a living at a very young age! Luck finally knocked on his door in 1581 when he landed a job as a member for Cornwall in the House of Commons. The job allowed Bacon to return to Gray’s Inn and complete his education. Next in 1582: he found himself appointed in the position of outer barrister. With his composition, A Letter of Advice to Queen Elizabeth , his very first political memorandum in 1584 he gave himself the political leap that he had long desired. Bacon went on to hold his position successfully in the Parliament for nearly four decades that is from 1584 to 1617 and that he spent the tenure as an active political person in the court is well known. In 1603, he was knighted upon James I’s ascension to the British throne and quickly moved up the legal and political ranks, becoming solicitor general in 1607 and attorney general in 1613. In 1616, he joined the Privy Council and the next year like his father became the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal and finally in 1618, Bacon was promoted to the lofty title of Lord Chancellor, one of the highest political offices in England. In 1621, Bacon became Viscount St. Albans.But thereafter the meteorical rise of Bacon took a dip in the very year he became Viscount: he stood accused of accepting bribes and was impeached by the Parliament for corruption. There has been some speculation on this aspect of Bacon’s life: there is a group of people who believe that Bacon was set up by his enemies in Parliament and the court faction and was unfortunately used as a scapegoat and his impeachment was actually a design to protect the Duke of Buckingham. Bacon was tried and found guilty after he confessed. A hefty 40,000 pounds fine and a sentence to the Tower of London was what the court ordered. Though he went free after four days of imprisonment and the fine was lifted, it took a toll on his reputation and consequently upon his health.

Not many can claim to have used life after such a beating in terms of reputation fruitfully. But Bacon was a breed different. It is only after his forced retirement that Bacon went on to write essays in whichhe shared the wisdom of his life – the wisdom coming from one who had seen much struggle, rise, fame and the loss. The original number of essays in Bacon’s Essays (1597) was ten and included titles like Of Studies,Of Discourse , Of Suitors , and Of Expense . By the year 1612, there were thirty-eight essays. They were pearls of wisdom though it is known that Bacon’s development as a man had left him sadder. Such a man expectedly should have been didactic or even dogmatic in tone, isn’t it? Bacon being Bacon, he was none rather he was pragmatic and very friendly in approach. His essays are his observations. So in an essay where he talks of ‘envy’ he does not sound preachy about envy being bad or destructive. Rather in a matter of fact, he relates incidents and hopes the observational eye will deduce the right conclusion. It is this that brought warmth and acceptance of the wisdom that he mentions in his essays.

Of Studies (1625)

‘Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man’ – so begins one of the popular essays of the man who brought prose writing virtually in vogue during Renaissance. This one paragraph essay elaborates on the value of learning and reading. He is witty and concise. What catches our attention is his reliance on parallel structures in the essay.

What does study do? Bacon says: ‘Studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability. Their chief use for delight is in privateness and retiring; for ornament, is in discourse; and for ability, is in the judgment and disposition of business. For expert men can execute, and perhaps judge of particulars, one by one; but the general counsels, and the plots and marshalling of affairs, come best from those that are learned. To spend too much time in studies is sloth; to use them too much for ornament, is affectation; to make judgment wholly by their rules, is the humor of a scholar.’

One interesting facet of Bacon’s essays is that many pearls in his essays have become very popular and oft quoted. One such example would be from this essay we are discussing here: ‘Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.’

A century later in 1753 Samuel Johnson’s was to write in his essays in the biweekly journal The Adventurer which included the essay On Studies that explored interestingly some of the themes introduced by Francis Bacon in Of Studies. There is a difference though: if Bacon’sstyle is terse and aphoristic then Johnson’s more expansive prose.

Another essay that draws our attention when we speak of this essay of Bacon’s had appeared in 1719, the same year in which Defoe published the first volume of Robinson Crusoe . The Education of Women by Daniel Defoe is an essay wherein he appeals to a male audience as he develops his argument that women should be allowed full and ready access to education. Bacon had concluded his essay: ‘So every defect of the mind, may have a special receipt ‘. Study not only whets the wit but is also necessary for growth. Different in texture but Johnson’s and Defoe’s essay only augments the argument started by

Bacon long ago!

Of Discourse

Bacon begins this essay of our discussion thus:

Some in their discourse desire rather commendation of wit, in being able to hold all arguments, than of judgment, in discerning what is true; as if it were a praise to know what might be said, and not what should be thought. Some have certain common-places and themes, wherein they are good, and want variety; which kind of poverty is for the most part tedious, and, when it is once perceived, ridiculous. The honourablest part of talk is to give the occasion; and again to moderate and pass to somewhat else, for then a man leads the dance. It is good in discourse, and speech of conversation, to vary and intermingle speech of the present occasion with arguments, tales with reasons, asking of questions with telling of opinions, and jest with earnest: for it is a dull thing to tire, and, as we say now, to jade, anything too far. As for jest, there be certain things which ought to be privileged from it; namely, religion, matters of state, great persons, any man’s present business of importance, and any case that deserveth pity.

This essay tells us how one can lead the way in a conversation without being dominating. The apt spirit of the essay had been caught by Lisa Jardine in her book The Art of Discourse (1974): “Bacon’s Essays fall squarely under the heading of presentation or ‘method of discourse.’ They are didactic, in Agricola’s sense of presenting knowledge to someone in a form in which it may be believed and assimilated. . . .

Basically these essays communicate precepts for the guidance of personal conduct in public affairs, based on Bacon’s own political experience.”

Bacon observes that it must be understood that there are some who have common places and themes on which they are comfortable talking on. What then is the best way to converse? Bacon puts it thus: “The honourablest part of talk is to give the occasion; and again to moderate and pass to somewhat else, for then a man leads the dance. It is good in discourse, and speech of conversation, to vary and intermingle speech of the present occasion with arguments, tales with reasons, asking of questions with telling of opinions, and jest with earnest: for it is a dull thing to tire, and, as we say now, to jade, anything too far.” There are certain topics Bacon argues should be kept out of jest: namely, religion, matters of state, great persons, any man’s present business of importance and anything that deserves pity. Also a satirist who makes others afraid of his wit must be afraid of other’s memory or else, he can land himself in discomfort. One must know the distinction between bitterness and wit or ‘saltiness’ as Bacon puts it.

That Bacon inspired and influenced prose writers has been seen when we undertook the discussion on the essay Of Studies. The present essay O f Discourse, reminds us another of Samuel Johnson’s essay called Conversation. Poet, critic, and dictionary-maker, Samuel Johnson is considered to be one of the great writers of the 18th century. Johnson had been aptly captured in James Boswell’s The Life of SamuelJohnson (1791) and the said essay shows he was also a strikingly witty conversationalist and a very entertaining person to be with. Johnson was known to be superfluous in the practice of this art that is conversation and would be presenting it with aplomb in one of the London tavern called the Turk’s Head. Simultaneously, another of Swift’s essay Hints Toward an Essay on Conversation reminds us strongly of Bacon’s Of Discourse . Johnson’s essay on conversation begins thus:

None of the desires dictated by vanity is more general, or less blamable, than that of being distinguished for the arts of conversation. Other accomplishments may be possessed without opportunity of exerting them, or wanted without danger that the defect can often be remarked; but as no man can live, otherwise than in a hermitage, without hourly pleasure or vexation, from the fondness or neglect of those about him, the faculty of giving pleasure is of continual use. Few are more frequently envied than those who have the power of forcing attention wherever they come, whose entrance is considered as a promise of felicity, and whose departure is lamented, like the recess of the sun from northern climates, as a privation of all that enlivens fancy, or inspirits gaiety.

Almost as an extension of the tonal mode of Bacon, Johnson considers conversation as a necessary art because a good conversationist will not only attract the attention of others but liven up the space that he inhabits! On the other hand, the great Anglo-Irish satirist Jonathan Swift talks of “the faults and errors” of those who lack the ability to participate in an agreeable conversation:

Most things, pursued by men for the happiness of public or private life, our wit or folly have so refined, that they seldom subsist but in idea; a true friend, a good marriage, a perfect form of government, with some others, require so many ingredients, so good in their several kinds, and so much niceness in mixing them, that for some thousands of years men have despaired of reducing their schemes to perfection. But, in conversation, it is, or might be otherwise; for here we are only to avoid a multitude of errors, which, although a matter of some difficulty, may be in every man’s power, for want of which it remaineth as mere an idea as the other. Therefore it seemeth to me, that the truest way to understand conversation, is to know the faults and errors to which it is subject, and from thence every man to form maxims to himself whereby it may be regulated, because it requireth few talents to which most men are not born, or at least may not acquire without any great genius or study. For nature hath left every man a capacity of being agreeable, though not of shining in company; and there are an hundred men sufficiently qualified for both, who, by a very few faults, that they might correct in half an hour, are not so much as tolerable.

The three essays prove that conversation is an art that needs nourishment and can get people the kind of attention that they want and desire and need we say who began it all in English. It helps to note in this context that to Romans oratory was an art and oratory a profession looked upon with respect.

Francis Bacon’s essay Of Truth is one of his more famous essays. The essay begins by making a genial observation: it mocks those who refuse to admit that there is objective truth that needs to be acknowledged by all. Bacon almost laughs as he says that people oft have a natural love of lying even when lying yields no notable advantage. ‘Truth’ resembles light, but Bacon opines that many people prefer to flirt with darkness because they take some pleasure in lies and take to lying almost without need. Bacon who might have had faced a debacle with allegations labeled against him at the ripe age of 60; however, asserts that truth is the greatest good that a man can possess. Where does Truth come from and why it is so important? Bacon has the answer – he asserts that Truth comes from God and consequently it brings us close to God, and naturally truth provides us with greatest pleasure.

This essay of Bacon is structured in an interesting manner. It begins with the mentioning Pilate, a symbolic Christ-killer and enemy of God, but it ends by elaborately celebrating God’s goodness and creativity. Pontius Pilate it is said had interrogated Jesus before his crucifixion, Jesus proclaimed that “Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” (John 18:37). To this, Pilate had mockingly replied: “What is truth?” and thereafter left Jesus to address the Jewish clergy who were hell bent on getting Christ crucified even over a Barabbas (v. 38). True there is no official record of Jesus’ reply to Pilate but Christians largely believe that Pilate had looked down upon Truth. Jesus does say this to his disciple Thomas, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). Pilate was dismissive of truth; God, on the other hand, created truth and personifies truth. The the essay though framed by references especially relevant to Christians, Bacon leads to the conclusion that truth is God. Does it not remind us of the Indian thought: Satyam Sivam Sundaram (Truth is God). Bacon does cite various classical authorities and discusses various classical opinions to augment his belief. Not all classical philosophers believed in the existence of truth but there would be some who like the Christians agreed that truth should be highly valued. Bacon is wit personified. He says lying is found oft attractive and truth pain boring, so people would tell lie even when there is no benefit from it. Bacon takes the essay back to the debate initiated by Plato: Poets told lies. Bacon like most of his contemporaries suggested that the lies told by the poets were not harmful in nature. Almost Aristotelian in argument, he says poetic untruth is shadow lie. Finally he ends the essay by aligning himself to the Christian doctrine of truth. Unlike the two essays of our discussion, this essay sees a number of allusions which are used to drive the basic idea of the essay home. Bacon raises serious questions and pushes the readers to think. Apart from allusion, imagery of light and darkness is used effectively:

Truth may perhaps come to the price of a pearl, that showeth best by day; but it will not rise to the price of a diamond, or carbuncle, that showeth best in varied lights.

What strikes again is the persuasive nature of Bacon and he does it with such smoothness, that he does not sound like a preacher. The essay is not ornamental like contemporary Elizabethan essays but is straight and simple. There is also a moderate use of Latinism in the essay. Of Truth is indicative of the greatness of Bacon’s mind and art. That he wasa philosopher and gifted with practical reasoning sense is also revealed. Bacon talks of subjective truth that is functional in social life. After reading the essay, we are likely to conclude that Bacon is also a moralist. What are the other aspects of Bacon that we will notice is revealed through the essay? He is a keen observer of human mind and behavior. He candidly says that like in the time of Pilate there would be people who do not care about truth. Bacon reasons as to why people do tell lies! First, truth is acquired through hard work and man is not enthusiastic about hard work. Secondly, truth curtails man’s freedom. Thirdly Bacon says “a natural though corrupt love of the lie itself.” Further he says: “A mixture of a lie doth ever add pleasure.” In the bright light of truth, man fears exposure. Bacon states that if deprived of false pride and vanities, the human mind would be deflated and would look poor and sad. He uses the idea of truth to create a utopia suggesting that truth can make the earth a paradise: “Certainly, it is heaven upon earth, to have a man’s mind move in charity, rest in Providence, and turn upon the poles of truth.” Also Bacon presents the need of truth in civic life: “….. that clear and round dealing is the honour of man’s nature; and that mixture of falsehood is like alloy in coin of gold and silver, which may make the metal work better, but it embaseth it.” The liar virtually has no salvation. Bacon uses the imagery of a snake to present the state of a liar. Bacon takes to the French essayist Montaigne who is of the view that “a lie faces God and shrinks from man” to reiterate his point. It is with this that Bacon concludes that untruth is equal to wickedness. He uses the imagery of the alloy to pin his point. At no point in the essay does it digress, it is single in tone in trying to prove that truth could only salvage man.

Bacon’s is noted for his wit and aphorism and that is his style. Again there is lot to be understood about his style in respect to the Elizabethan and Jacobean prose writers. One thing we can deduce from our study of the three essays above is that a number of lines of Bacon’s essay have become like proverbs:

Suspicions among thoughts are like bats among birds.  ( Of Suspicion )

The ways to enrich are many and most of them foul. (Of Riches)

It is a strange desire to seek power and lose liberty: or to seek power over others and lose power over a man’s self. (Of Great Place)

Such lines also ooze of practical sense on the part of the essayist. Thoughts are so condensed that reading of Bacon essays should be at such a pace wherein we can sip in the treasure.

The aphoristic style always depends on the device of balance and antithesis and has seen as synonymous with Bacon. An example can be taken from his essay, Of Marriage and Single life Bacon opines that an unmarried man is a good friend, good master and good servant, but not a good citizen! An example of antithesis is: Nuptial love maketh mankind; friendly love perfecteth it; but wanton love corrupteth and embaseth it.” (Of Marriage and Single Life.).

Critics have largely agreed that Bacon has two styles. One style as we see in his early essays.Macaulay, by contrasting extracts from Of Studies (1597) and Of Adversity (1625) makes obvious the two styles of Bacon.The first collection of essays of Bacon’s is largely illustrative. The original idea of Bacon had been to make the essays into a sort of diary with observations on various topics. These early essays were worked around a central idea. In his later essays, Bacon comes to maturity and his essays achieve more colour and texture. Also in the later essays, the extreme condensation of the early essays was gone. Though a sense of incompleteness accompanies his essays throughout, nevertheless loose thoughts are left out in the later essays and they appear more rounded.

Bacon is a rhetorician who uses it to persuade and dazzle and in this he has a few competitors in English Language.Bacon’s style can be summed to be as: a plethora of figures of speech, a master of simile and metaphor. Analogies and allusion also abound in his work and they are used to illustrate a point for example: In Of the True Greatness of Kingdom , there is an analogy drawn from the Bible which is rather elaborate: “The blessing of Judah and Issachar will never meet: that the same people or nation should be both the lion’s whelp and the ass between burthens: neither will it be, that a people overlaid with taxes should ever become valiant and martial.” Again imagery and figurative speeches become more rampant in the later essays. Bacon’s learned mind fluently used quotations and allusions drawn from various sources like fables, the Bible, History, the ancient Greek and Roman writers and much more.We have seen in Of Truth how he makes references to Pilate, Lucian, Lucretius and Montaigne, or let us remind ourselves how in Of Great Place , we encounter allusions to Tacitus, Galba and Vespasian!

Apart from remarkable wit, Bacon is flexible in his approach. Bacon is not wholly difficult. Extreme condensation of idea sometimes demand slow reading of his essays though few Latinism in his essays make it difficult to follow. At best, we can conclude that the style of Bacon was witty, aphoristic, terse and full of brevity. The sentences in the essay reveal astute wisdom and at times they are epigrammatic in nature too. Of Studies has many epigrammatic sentences: “Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.” Or “Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man.” Again in Of Great Place , we have it: “The rising into place is laborious, and by pains men come to greater pains.” Or “It is a strange desire to seek power and to lose liberty; or to seek power over others and to lose over a man’s self.” The charm of Bacon’s lies in his ability to deal with a large number of subjects with equal brightness, intellect and spontaneity and of course wit! Bacon at no point was cumbersome, a thing that would be confirmed by Dryden later. To conclude Bacon, the essayist can be summed and paid tribute in his own words:

If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts he shall end in certainties. (Book I, v, 8, The Advancement of Learning).

• Heard, Franklin Fiske. “Bacon’s Essays, with annotations by Richard Whately and notes and a glossarial index”. Making of America Books. Retrieved 13 May 2012.
• Bacon, Francis (2000) [1985]. Kiernan, Michael, ed. The Essayes or Counsels, Civill and Morall. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Jardine, Lisa. Francis Bacon: Discovery and the Art of Discourse (1974), Oxford University Press.
• Knowles, Elizabeth M. (ed) (1999). The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations. Oxford University Press. pp. 30-55.
• Markby, Thomas (1853). The Essays, or, Counsels, Civil and Moral; With a Table of the Colours of Good and Evil. London: Parker.

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Bacon and his Essays

Updated: Aug 1, 2023

Francis Bacon was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, jurist, orator and author. He served as Lord high chancellor of England and Attorney General of England and Wales under the monarchy of King James I. He was born on 22 January 1561 and died on April 6 1626 . He is known as the Father of English Essay. He created the formal essay using his own simple yet philosophical and complex style

He was also the first writer to publish a collection of essays, which were so unique that its form became a genre in Literature. He belonged to the Renaissance and thus, many of his influential works were vastly impacted by the tenets of the Renaissance period. Bacon wrote prominent essays related to philosophical research, natural science and social status. In short, he has contributed to society by bringing about a clear distinction between Philosophy, Science and religion. He was the one who introduced a new way of writing and thinking.

Bacon's writing style is known for Aphoristic (a sentence formulated with truth and principle). His essays are to be read slowly, because of the compact and condensed thought. These are the number of lines that are read like proverbs, for example in the essay "Of Truth" Bacon says “A lie faces God and shrinks pleasure!” This aphoristic style always depends on the device of balance and antithesis. In the essay “ Of Studies " he says, 'Read not to contradict, nor to believe, but to weigh and consider”. He carefully presents both the advantages and disadvantages of a particular issue. He is also known for his usage of figures of speech. He is a master of simile and metaphor. In "Of Studies" , he says 'Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed and some few to be chewed and digested

He is also a master in using rhetoric and fruitfully expressed sentences. He was the one who set up a new method of prose writing, which was at once easy, simple, graceful, rhetorical, musical and condensed. Examples from "of Friendship" where he says 'For there is no man that importeth his joys to his friend, but he joyeth the more and no man that importeth his griefs to his friend, but he grievath the less' . An aphoristic sentence from "Of Simulation and Dissimulation" that “a habit of secrecy is both political and moral”

All his essay topics were drawn from both public and private life. In each case the essays cover their topics systematically from a number of different angles, weighing one argument against another. Though Bacon considered the Essays as "But as the recreation of my other studies", he was credited as pointing him be the Father of English Essays.

His "Essays" were published in three editions in Bacon's lifetime. Here are the lists of his tremendous works in Essays and the dates of their Publication. Of Truth (1625), Of Death (1612, enlarged 1625), Of Unity in Religion Of Religion (1612, rewritten 1625), Of Simulation and Dissimulation (1625), Of Parents and Children (1612, enlarged 1625), Of Envy (1625), Of Love (1612, rewritten 1625) Of Great Place (1612, Slightly enlarged 1625), Of Boldness (1625), Of Goodness and Goodness of Nature (1612, enlarged in 1625), Of Nobility (1612, rewritten 1625), of Seditions and Troubles (1625), Of Atheism (1612, slightly enlarged 1625), Of Superstition (1612, slightly enlarged 1625) Of Travel (1625). Of Empire (1612. much enlarged 1625). Of Counsels (1612, enlarged 1625), Of Delays (1625), Of Cunning (1612, rewritten 1625). Of Wisdom for a Man's self (1612, enlarged 1625) Of Innovations (1625). Of Dispatch (1612), Of Seeming Wise (1612). Of Friendship (1612, rewritten 1625) Of Expense (1597, enlarged 1612, again enlarged 1625), Of the True Greatness of Kingdoms and Estates (1612, enlarged 1625), Of Regiment of Health (1597, enlarged 1612, again enlarged 1625), Of Suspicion (1625). Of Discourse (1597, slightly enlarged 1612, again enlarged 1625), Of Plantations (1625), Of Riches (1612, much enlarged 1625), Of Prophecies (1625). Of Ambition (1612, enlarged 1625) Of Masques and Triumphs (1625), Of Nature in Men (1612, enlarges 1625), Of Custom and Education (1612, enlarges 1625), Of Usury (1625) Of Youth and Age (1612, slightly enlarged 1625), Of Beauty (1612, slightly enlarged 1625), Of Deformity (1612, somewhat altered 1625), Of Building (1625), Of Gardens (1625), Of Negotiating (1597, enlarged 1612, very slightly enlarged 1625). Of Followers and Friends (1597, slightly enlarged 1625), Of suitors (1597, enlarged 1625). Of faction (1597, much enlarged 1625). Of ceremonies and Respects (1597, enlarged 1625). Of praise (1612, enlarges 1625), Of Vain Glory (1612) Of Honour and reputation (1597, omitted 1612, republished 1625), Of Judicature (1612), Of Anger (1625), Of Vicissitude (1625), Of Fragment of an Essay of Fame, Of the Colours of Good and Evil

From all these topics, we could recognise Bacon as a wise man whose "Essays” are a treasure of World Philosophy. They teach us permanent moral principles that everyone must know obligatory. "Essays" has a list of helpful advice which did not lose its currency till today. His "Essays" are indebted to a number of sources, both literary and otherwise. Bacon was familiar with The Bible and took its teachings seriously. He was also familiar with many of the Greek and Latin classics, and his style was especially influenced by such writers as Seneca and Tacitus (rather than Cicero). Seneca and Tacitus favoured a kind of Writing often called "curt" (rudely brief). Cicero's writing, by contrast, was often long; complicated, and highly patterned. Phrases on the "curt" style were short; grammar was unconventional, and ideas often whizzed by quickly. Bacon liked lists, antithesis, and phrases involving three elements. Yet writers such as Tacitus and Seneca were only two significant influences on his style.

Bacon's wide reading of history allowed him to cite more recent examples to support his arguments. Thematically, Francis Bacon's Essays typically deal with Universal themes announced in their titles "Of Adversity", "Of Death" and "Of Beauty" are a few in which he used an Impersonal style when Philosophizing on these types of themes and avoided referencing his personal experiences. He often expressed his ideas in short, pithy phrases and intentionally avoided Grammar. He was also skilful at crafting a carefully balanced sentence structure using semicolons. His Essays are full of references to the classics.

Bacon has contributed to the development of the English prose when the bulk English prose was full of loose sentences of enormous length; he supplied at once short, crisp and firmly knit sentences of a type unfamiliar in English. He rejected the overcrowded imagery but knew how to light up his thoughts with well-placed figures. These essays are of endless interest and profit: The more one reads them, the more remarkable seem their compactness. According to Hugh Walker, Bacon took one of the longest steps overtaken in the evolution of the English prose style. It should be read slowly and thoughtfully, not for the style but because they are extremely condensed. Conciseness of expression and compactness are the most striking qualities of Bacon's style in his "Essays".

Bacon had a marvelous power of compressing his ideas in few words, which ordinary writers would express in several sentences, thus many of his sentences are like proverbs as mentioned. His “Essays" are full of illustrations, allusions and quotations. Some of these quotations are from Latin sources. He also gives us quotations from "The Bible". These allusions and quotations seem to serve his style more scholarly.

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"Of Studies" by Francis Bacon

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• An Introduction to Punctuation
• Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia
• M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester
• B.A., English, State University of New York

Francis Bacon, the first major English essayist , comments forcefully in "Of Studies" on the value of reading, writing, and learning.

"Of Studies" is an aphoristic  essay. Notice Bacon's reliance on parallel structures (in particular, tricolons ) throughout. Then, compare the essay to Samuel Johnson 's treatment of the same theme more than a century later in "On Studies".

The Life of Francis Bacon

Francis Bacon is considered a Renaissance man. He worked as a lawyer and scientist throughout his life (1561-1626.)

Bacon's most valuable work surrounded philosophical and Aristotelian concepts that supported the scientific method. Bacon served as an attorney general as well as lord chancellor of England and received his education from several universities including Trinity College and the University of Cambridge.

Bacon wrote over 50 essays beginning with "Of" in the title and following the concept, such as " Of Truth ", "Of Atheism", and " Of Discourse ".

Francis Bacon Facts

Bacon's uncle was the lord keeper for Queen Elizabeth I. He helped symbolize the approvals for key documents. Additionally:

• Bacon is known as the father of the scientific method which was influenced by his own Baconian method based on reason and observation.
• Around 1621, he was imprisoned in the Tower of London on charges of bribery.
• He died of bronchitis in 1626 after going in the snow in Highgate, London.

Interpretations of "Of Studies'"

Bacon's essay expresses several comments in "Of Studies" that can be interpreted as the following:

• Studying is helpful for better understanding and provides knowledge that develops experience, as well as a character that grows.
• Reading provides delight and fun, ornament and showing off, and the ability to succeed.
• Bacon expanded upon different fields of study depending on one's goal; for example, to master clarity with language, study poetry.

"Of Studies" Excerpt

"Studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability. Their chief use for delight is in privateness and retiring; for ornament, is in discourse; and for ability, is in the judgment and disposition of business. For expert men can execute, and perhaps judge of particulars, one by one; but the general counsels, and the plots and marshalling of affairs, come best from those that are learned. To spend too much time in studies is sloth; to use them too much for ornament, is affectation; to make judgment wholly by their rules, is the humor of a scholar. They perfect nature, and are perfected by experience: for natural abilities are like natural plants, that need pruning, by study; and studies themselves do give forth directions too much at large, except they be bounded in by experience. Crafty men condemn studies, simple men admire them, and wise men use them; for they teach not their own use; but that is a wisdom without them, and above them, won by observation. 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; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention. Some books also may be read by deputy, and extracts made of them by others; but that would be only in the less important arguments, and the meaner sort of books, else distilled books are like common distilled waters, flashy things. Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man. And therefore, if a man write little, he had need have a great memory; if he confer little, he had need have a present wit: and if he read little, he had need have much cunning, to seem to know that he doth not. Histories make men wise; poets witty; the mathematics subtle; natural philosophy deep; moral grave; logic and rhetoric able to contend. Abeunt studia in mores [Studies pass into and influence manners]. Nay, there is no stone or impediment in the wit but may be wrought out by fit studies; like as diseases of the body may have appropriate exercises. Bowling is good for the stone and reins; shooting for the lungs and breast; gentle walking for the stomach; riding for the head; and the like. So if a man’s wit be wandering, let him study the mathematics; for in demonstrations, if his wit be called away never so little, he must begin again. If his wit be not apt to distinguish or find differences, let him study the Schoolmen; for they are cymini sectores [splitters of hairs]. If he be not apt to beat over matters, and to call up one thing to prove and illustrate another, let him study the lawyers’ cases. So every defect of the mind may have a special receipt."

Bacon published three editions of his essays (in 1597, 1612, and 1625), and the last two were marked by the addition of more essays. In many cases, they became expanded works from earlier editions. This is the best-known version of the essay "Of Studies", taken from the 1625 edition of "Essays or Counsels, Civil and Moral".

Version From the First Edition (1597)

"Studies serve for pastimes, for ornaments, for abilities; their chief use for pastimes is in privateness and retiring; for ornaments in discourse; and for ability in judgment; for expert men can execute, but learned men are more fit to judge and censure. To spend too much time in them is sloth; to use them too much for ornament is affectation; to make judgment wholly by their rules is the humor of a scholar; they perfect nature, and are themselves perfected by experience; crafty men contemn them, wise men use them, simple men admire them; for they teach not their use, but that there is a wisdom without them and above them won by observation. Read not to contradict nor to believe, but to weigh and consider. Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested: that is, some are to be read only in parts, others to be read but curiously, and some few to be read wholly with diligence and attention. Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready, and writing an exact man; therefore, if a man write little, he had need of a great memory; if he confer little, he had need of a present wit; and if he read little, he had need have much cunning to seem to know that he doth not know. Histories make wise men; poets witty; the mathematics subtle; natural philosophy deep; moral grave; logic and rhetoric able to contend."

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21. Francis Bacon, Essays (1597–1625)

From the book handbook of english renaissance literature.

• Daniel Schneider

This chapter situates Bacon’s Essays in the early modern period as an age shaped by reforms of thought and aligns them with Bacon’s targeted ‘great instauration’ of natural philosophy. A close reading of his essay “Of Prophecies” will illustrate how Bacon connects scientific progress to civic behaviour and governmental skills. The second reading, “Of Deformity”, will focus on Bacon’s anti-systematic, aphoristic writing style and its role in implementing new ways of thinking. In the final section, I discuss the scholarly and popular reception of Bacon’s Essays and their influence on subsequent generations of writers and thinkers.

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Chapters in this book (39)

Francis Bacon as an Essayist

Francis Bacon is the first great English essayist who enjoys a glorious reputation and considered to be the father of English essay . He remains for the sheer mass and weight of genius. His essays introduce a new form of composition into English literature.

Three Editions of Bacon’s Essays

Bacon sponsored this new literary form in English with the publication of his ten essays in 1597. It grew to thirty-eight in the edition of 1612. The number reached fifty-eight in the final issue of 1625. These essays are the results of his direct observations of men and matters.

Dispersed Meditations

Bacon charged his essays with the serious spirit and stately manners of Seneca. For him his essays were dispersed meditations and receptacle for detached thoughts. He is practical under the influence of Machiavelli. Utilitarianism is obvious in his essays. He shrewdly instructs how to lead a successful life. That’s why his essays are called counsels civil and moral .

Bacon and Montaigne

Bacon borrowed the form of essay from Montaigne, the French essayist. Bacon and Montaigne share the form of essay but not its spirit. Montaigne is personal, familiar and prolific. But Bacon is formal, curt and impersonal. Montaigne appeals to the heart but Bacon to the head. Thus these two great essayists present a very sharp and interesting contrast .

Impersonal and Objective

Bacon’s essays are capsules of impersonal wisdom. They may not give immediate pleasure but give lasting guidance. They are objective and logically constructed. Thus as an essayist Bacon is not friendly, confidential, intimate and familiar with the reader. His essays are for the most part detached and impersonal. This conclusion demands reconsideration. In fact, Bacon’s essays bear a close imprint of his personality, though he is not disposed to unbend himself in his works. On this basis Pope’s following statement is appreciated:

If parts allure thee, think, how Bacon shined, The wisest, the brightest and the meanest of mankind.

Wide Range of Topics

Bacon wrote on a wide range of topics. He passes from religion and empire to gardens and buildings. In Montaigne and Lamb, the subject is unimportant but in Bacon subject always is important. He may be unsystematic in his treatment but he never wanders beyond his bounds. He surpassed all his contemporaries in the capacity to utter pregnant thoughts on almost any theme .

Themes of Bacon’s Essays

The themes of Bacon’s essays are various. They range from Goodness to Gardens and from Envy to Masques and Triumphs. The essay ‘Of Studies’ is about books and reading. Here Bacon explains reasons and purpose of study. At the same time he suggests the modes of selecting the books and manner of study. In ‘Of Truth’ he says that some men do not care for truth. He mentions its reasons also.

Bacon’s Style

Bacon employed a unique style . This is important for lucidity, clarity, economy, precision, directness, masculinity and mathematical plainness. His essays seem like a collection of short and pithy maxims with tremendous compression. Each sentence can convey a deep and concentrated meaning. Due to this, Bacon’s style is called aphoristic. Bacon considered this style suitable for the spirit of enquiry.

In his early essays the sentences are short, crisp and sententious. There are few connectives. Though there is no continuity, there is a strong sense of rapid movement. As Bacon’s essays are argumentative in nature, his style becomes antithetical. With an impartial air, he balances the opposing arguments. There are number of quotations and allusions in his essays.

Bacon’s style changed in the later editions. It became more elaborate. Connectives were used frequently and the style became less formal. His images and figures of speech are simple. They clearly state the ideas. Flexibility, wit and fun are also some important features of his style .

In short, Bacon is a very great essayist. To English literature his essays are priceless acquisitions. Legouis has rightly remarked’ These essays are the classics of English prose ’.

Analysis of Francis Bacon’s Prose Writing Style

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Stylistic Analysis of Francis Bacon’s Selected Essays

• Khaled Ahmad Sarwary [email protected]
• Zalmai Samsor Pashto Department, Languages and Literature Faculty, Ghazni University, Afghanistan.

This paper is an attempt to analyze stylistically Bacon’s essays.  The main purpose of this study is to analyze the writing style of Francis Bacon in the following selected essays (Of Studies, Of Revenge, OF Ambition, and Of Marriage and Single Live).  Researchers analyzed the writing style of Bacon in these essays, specifically the aphoristic style. One of the most crucial characteristics of Bacon’s essays style is aphorism. It is a style which specified by the direct, straightforward, pithy and concise language. Apart from this, utilitarianism which is another feature of Bacon’s essay style, has been clarified clearly. Utilitarianism is a philosophy of thought that maintains and supports that the foremost actions are those that create the most happiness for the greatest number of people. In fact, researchers have found some elements regarding the selected essays such as didacticism, mannerism as well as worldly wisdom that introduce Francis Bacon as a utilitarian writer. Moreover, other crucial elements of Bacon’s essays such as quotations, impersonality, as well as paragraphs have been analyzed very briefly in this paper. Actually, this study is based on qualitative research. The research design was the textual analysis in order to analyze the text. The main instrument was the text of Francis Bacon’s selected essays. The data were in the form of lines, sentences, phrases and words. To analyze the text, the researchers have used steps such as paraphrasing, analyzing, identification and classification. Finally, the result of this study shows the writing style of Francis Bacon which is based on aphoristic, utilitarianism and other significant elements, like the usage of impressive quotations, unique paragraphs and Bacon’s objectivity regarding his essays.

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Short stories, literary essays, india today english lit 1, francis bacon, the father of english essays—his prose style, introduction: .

Bacon is regarded as the father of English essays. The great title is attributed to him on the ground of his great contribution to English essay. But the term father gives the sense of the originator also. In this sense this title seems unjustified, because there was essay even before Bacon. But the form was different. It was a sort of lecture given by a great scholar to display his learning. Under the impression the readers are fools. Bacon gave a new direction to English essay. He made the essay a form to discuss topics of day to day life. It was the period of Renaissance. Therefore, Bacon wrote essays on the problems related to his contemporary society. It is his universality that his thoughts are of great importance even in this computer age.

Bacon's Contribution to the English Essay: 

Bacon's contribution to English essay can never be overvalued. Bacon has dedicated his essays to the Duke of Buckingham. There is a long list of Bacon's essays. The most important of these are: Of Truth, Of Death, Of Unity in Religion, Of Revenge, Of Adversity, Of Simulation and Dissimulation. Of Parents and Children, Of Marriage and Single Life, Of Envy, Of Love, Of Great Place, Of Boldness, Of Goodness and Goodness of Nature, Of Nobility, Of Seditions and Troubles, Of Atheism , Of Superstition, Of Travel, Of Empire, Of Counsel, Of Delays, Of Cunning, Of Wisdom for a Man's Self, Of Innovations, Of Dispatch, Of Seeming Wise, Of Friendship, Of Expense, Of the True Greatness of Kingdoms and Estates, Of Regiment of Health, Of Suspicion, Of Discourse, Of Plantations, Of Riches, Of Prophecies, Of Ambition, Of Mosques and Triumphs, Of Nature in Men, Of Custom and Education, Of Fortune, Of Usury, Of Youth and Age, Of Beauty, Of Deformity, Of Building, Of Gardens, Of Negotiating, Of Followers and Friends, Of Suitors, Of Studies, Of Faction, Of Ceremonies and Respects. Of Praise, Of Vain - glory, Of Honour and Reputation, Of Judicature, Of Anger, Of Vicissitude of Things, Of Fame. Bacon's essays seem to justify what Pope says regarding him.

Great Ideas of Practical Wisdom: 

Bacon was a utilitarian. His essays are full of great ideas of practical wisdom. For example, throughout the essay of Studies, Bacon shows his practical wisdom and comprehensiveness. Generally people give importance to either technical knowledge or practical experience but Bacon recognizes importance to both and advises to consult an experienced man if the work is at a small scale, and technically trained or learned man for managing a work at a large scale . Generally people think studies are always useful but Bacon advises to avoid excess of studies. He recognises importance of natural talent, training and practical experience. Generally people think all books are equally important but Bacon advises to study books according to their importance. He recognises importance of original texts and notes. Generally people think that reading is the only way of learning but Bacon advises to give importance to conference and writing also. Bacon shows how different subjects affect our mind also. 

Clarity of Thought and Expression: 

Bacon's belief in clarity of thought and expression is well exposed in this essay when he adopts the device of classification. He classifies purposes of studies in three parts: 

“Studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability.”

He brings to light not only advantages of studiers but also its disadvantages that appear when studies are used in excess. Too much study for delight develops idleness; for ornamentation develops artificiality: to take decision wholly by their rules is a bookish approach becomes the whim of a learned man. Studies mature natural talent that is perfected by practical knowledge. Natural talent too requires pruning or trimming. Books express confusing or contradictory ideas that should be limited by experience. Wicked people oppose studies, common or foolish people admire them while wise people use them. 

“Crafty men condemn studies, simple men admire them, and wise men use them.” 

In the same way he classifies followers into two parts: 

1. Followers fit to be disliked 

2. Followers to be liked 

Aphoristic Style: 

Bacon is known for the use of aphoristic style. Of Revenge is an illustration of the compact style of Bacon. Most of the sentences are terse and have that aphoristic quality about them that he is famous for. This essay is a fine illustration of Bacon's style which was unmatchable for pith and pregnancy in the conveyance of his special kind of thought. He in this essay, as elsewhere, has structured out at once a short, crisp, and firmly knit sentence of a type unfamiliar in English pregnant with rich meaning.

Proverbial Style: 

Bacon's proverbial style enables him to make proverbial statements. Here are a few examples of the proverbial style of Bacon taken from Of Revenge: 

1. “For, as for the wrong, it does but offend the law; but the revenge of that kind putteth the law out of office.” 

2. “Therefore, they do but trifle with themselves that labour in past masters.” 

3. “But base and crafty towards are like the arrow that flieth in the dark.”  

4. “This is certain, that a man that studieth revenge, keeps his own wounds green, which otherwise would heal and do well.” 

Bacon's great wisdom enables him to express thoughts of universal importance. When he expresses these thoughts in aphoristic style so many sentences of the novel seem proverbial. It encourages him to make proverbial statements. The essay, ‘Of Studies’ for example opens with a proverbial statement: 

If anybody talks about studies, he refers to this statement necessarily. The essay is full of such statements that express a general thought which is true to all. 

“To spend too much time in studies is sloth. 

For natural abilities are like natural plants, that need pruning by study; 

They perfect nature, and are perfected by experienced. 

Crafty men condemn studies, simple men admire them, and wise men use them. 

Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.” 

Poetic Style: 

Bacon's prose style so often becomes poetic. It is full of poetic imagery. So often he makes use of myth making and sensuous word pictures. The essay Of Followers and Friends opens with the image of a bird. 

“Costly followers are not to be liked; lest while a man maketh his train longer, he maketh his wings shorter.” 

Bacon borrows his images from common life. Bacon uses game imagery and nature imagery. 

“For lookers - on many times see more than gamesters; and the vale best discovereth the hill.” 

Bacon cites the imagery of a hill to confirm the former imagery of players. It suggests a paradox that sometimes, the players fail in knowing their faults but the spectators who remain watching their movements closely, mark the error. Image of a hill does not require any proof for it is a general truth that: 

“The vale best discovereth the hill.” 

Bacon uses water imagery for notes and guides: 

“Some books also may be read by deputy, and extracts made of arguments, and the meaner sort of books; else distilled books are, like common distilled waters, flashy things.” 

For and Against Arguments: 

It is Bacon's style that he introduces arguments for and against the subject. His arguments are always logical. For example, he points out advantages and disadvantages of treating people equally or differently. 

“It is a matter of practical wisdom that man of same rank must be treated equally. If one man is given preference, he becomes rude and others feel dissatisfied. But the case is somewhat different with an able man. He must be treated with respect. It makes the able man respectful to the master and inspires others to improve their ability.”

Bacon is a practical philosopher who does not believe in imposing his thoughts on others. He gives arguments for and against the subject and leaves it to the reader to conclude according to his requirement. For example, he points out advantages as well as disadvantages of studies and its three purposes. 

“Studies provide amusement; help in improving effectiveness of speech; and improve skill and perfection; their main purpose of giving amusement is when we are alone or taking rest. They give effectiveness to conversation or discussion. They make perfect in deciding or managing things. According to Bacon experienced man perform well in special parts. But suggestions of universal importance, details and management of business are done best by trained persons. But his discussion does not end here for incoming lines he warns against the disadvantages of making excessive use of studies. Bacon points out disadvantages of studies if done unwisely. Too much study for delight develops idleness; for ornamentation develops artificiality; to take decision wholly by their rules is a bookish approach becomes the whim of a learned man. Studies mature natural talent that is perfected by practical knowledge. Natural talent too requires pruning or trimming. Books express confusing or contradictory ideas that should be limited by experience. Wicked people oppose studies, common or foolish people admire them while wise people use them. How to use studies is a more important art that is attained by practical experience. Likewise on the one hand suggests reading of books and on the others pleads for natural talent. He points out advantages as well as disadvantages of experienced man. He suggests to read some books with the help of notes or extracts made by others.”

Use of References, Quotations and Latinism: 

As regards its style, this essay shows the usual qualities that are associated with Bacon. Bacon is fond of allusions, quotations, Latin phrases and expressions, and figures of speech. We have here a reference to Ulysses, a well-known hero of Greek mythology. There is a reference to the cruelty and hard - heartedness of Inquisitors who used to be employed to inflict punishment on heretics. There is a quotation from an ancient Greek philosopher, Thales who said, in reply to the question when a man should marry: “A young man not yet, an elder man not at all.” 

Thus, Bacon is rightly called the father of English essay. His contribution to the development of English essay is great. He gave a new style to English essay.

Saurabh Gupta

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Style of Bacon's Essay

Q: Bacon is an aphoristic”--- explain in reference of “Of Study” Q: Explain Bacon’s technique of writing easy. Q: What makes the essay “Of Study” inimitable ?—discuss. Q: Evaluate “Of Study” as an essay. Francis Bacon is the father of English prose. He expresses his subtle thought through a very simple and clear language. The essays of Bacon are inimitable not only for their pragmatic subject matter but also for their superior style.

Related Papers

American International Journal of Social Science Research

Javed Sahibzada

The purpose of this expositional paper was to analyze the Francis Bacon Prose Style as literary genre with reference to his essays (“Of Studies” Of Revenge” and “Of Marriage and Single Life”) Bacon’s essays have a certain unique characteristic which make us question the classification of essay. Literary review through expositional form of writing for presenting opinions based on facts from his essays was considered as a method for analyzing literary essays. The finding of this paper through analyzing his three major essays (“Of Studies” Of Revenge” and “Of Marriage and Single Life) revealed, Bacon has used various features which can be termed as: Aphoristic, Paradox, Rhetorical Device, Imagery, Analogy, and allusion for being impersonal trough saving his own personality. Bacon’s works are classified as essays for having the artistic value of Beauty and moral. Francis Bacon has distinctive features that fame his works through the ages. Bacon’s style is compact yet polished and indeed...

Ahmad Mahbub-ul-Alam

Francis Bacon was the most distinctive essayist of the Elizabethan era. There is much utilitarianism depicted in his essays in our day to day life. He was a social reformer of the then time. We find strategies, optimism, truth, practicality, explanation, allusions, straightforward morality and idacticism in his essays. Consequently his influence upon the readers is still prevailing in the modern era. At the modern spiritual sterility, his essays can show us the right path to live a simple and successful life. His writings show the way to improve and develop in all aspects of life. Especially, he deals with the lifestyle of the youth which keeps a deep impact on the modern youth at present. Some of the essays are concerned with the external behavior of human being. Some are discussed internally. Some essays are concerned with eternal human passions like love, ambition, revenge, envy, anger. Friendship, studies, marriage, seditions, death, boldness and faction are in focus in the essays which have universal appeal to the multitude. The study was conducted in the period from December 2012 to March 2013.

Gelson Silva

from A Companion to British Literature, ed. Robert DeMaria Jr., Heesok Chang, and Samantha Zacher, vol 2. (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2014), 231-248

Christopher Crosbie

Examines Francis Bacon's relation to Aristotle. The Baconian oeuvre remains the most extensive and influential assault on Aristotelianism in English writing of the early modern period. Where convention respected Aristotelian logic as a viable instrument for studying natural philosophy, Bacon instead sought to initiate an instauration, or restoration, of learning by proposing his inductive method, grounded in empirical investigation. Bacon leveled his criticisms not only against Aristotle but also scholastic and early modern commentaries as well as university curricula. Whether through monumental publications or unfinished manuscripts, Baconian writing – consistent in its substantive critique but adaptive in its tone – frequently attends to the historical conditions in which Aristotelian thought flourished. Throughout, Bacon seeks not to remove from Aristotle his iconic status in the history of ideas but, more precisely, to transform him into a different icon altogether, a paradigmatic instance of how faulty methodology can mislead an individual mind and consign subsequent generations to intellectual torpor. Keywords: Francis Bacon, Aristotle, history and philosophy of science, New Organon

Sense of the Sublime

Stephen Jaeger

Expressius, sensibilius, distinctius-Bacon's prescript for the improvement of church music Roger Bacon wrote extensively on sacrum eloquium and sacra eloquentia. These terms occur in the Middle Ages but they are rare, and they ordinarily refer to Scripture as a whole, not to a style or an art of composition of sacred books and not to a rhetoric of devotional texts. Still, there are many indications that sacra eloquentia in this sense existed as a practice;

Noel B. Reynolds

In an earlier study that identified previously unrecognized writings of the young Thomas Hobbes, questions were raised about the authorship of some of Francis Bacon’s published works. This article reports a follow-up study in which two independent statistical analyses of Bacon’s English works both conclude that, whereas Bacon’s autographic writings show clearly that they are authored by the same person; almost none of his published works can be matched statistically with the autographs. The most likely explanation for this dramatic finding is that Bacon’s well-known reliance on secretaries may have been sufficiently extensive that his writing patterns are obscured or replaced by theirs. This finding suggests a far simpler explanation for a wide array of anomalies in Bacon’s works than others have offered. The study further identifies some of Bacon’s works written during a period when Thomas Hobbes was his secretary, which match Hobbes’s writing pattern. ...............................................................................................................................

Daniel Derrin

Doina-Cristina Rusu

The general aim of Francis Bacon's philosophy was the reformation of human knowledge, with the intent to put it into practice and use it for the benefit of humankind. He criticized Aristotelian-Scholastic philosophy on the grounds that its method was unable to bring about progress. Bacon's method of induction was the antidote to the idleness of previous philosophies, and it had a twofold function. First, it was supposed to eradicate the errors and idols from human mind, so that this could become like a polished mirror in which the nature could reflect itself, leading to the cultivation of virtues and elimination of vices. Second , it was supposed to discover the inner structure of matter and its activity. This was done by gradual abstraction and, most important , with the help of experiments. Bacon's emphasis on experience and the use of experiments as the right tools to be employed in the study of nature was an idea that influenced future generations of philosophers, and it is considered a building stone in the establishment of the societies of knowledge founded in the second half of the seventeenth century. Bacon contended that his method of induction should be employed beyond the study of nature into other disciplines, such as ethics. This enterprise, he believed, would bring about not only knowledge, but also welfare and happiness.

Gustavo Araújo Batista

This article has as main objective to make a concise approach about Francis Bacon’s (1561-1626) philosophy, dimensioning it inside educational area. It will be done a summary explanation of his historical context (Renaissance), of some of his works and of some of the main topics of his philosophy, demonstrating its applicability to pedagogy. By developing a conceptual and contextual approach, this study has adopted as its theoretical-methodological reference the historical-dialectical materialism, according to Lucien Goldmann (1913-1970), appointing as main result the alert done by Bacon in relation to knowledge usefulness in order to

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In Defense of the Junk Watch

This is an edition of the newsletter Box + Papers, Cam Wolf’s weekly deep dive into the world of watches. Sign up here.

You have a watch—maybe multiple—that will time something at the push of its button. What I bet you don’t have is a device that tells you the time and, when you depress the pusher on the side, dispense Pez —I’d like to see your precious chronographs do that.

In the ‘90s, watches were an essential piece of every marketing brief on earth. The proliferation of quartz technology and the ease of making timepieces meant that nearly every brand and company in the world wanted in on the action. If you wanted, for example, a watch to celebrate the release of Robin Williams’s 1997 film Flubber , you were in luck—they made one inexplicably, in collaboration with Dr. Pepper .

The ‘90s were the golden era of these novelty watches. Now, pieces once destined for landfills are riding a wave of nostalgia and back into our watch rotations. It’s hard to believe, but at one point there was a demand for watches quickly printed with athletes, brands, cartoons—even popular characters from commercials.

Many quote-unquote serious collectors think of their watches as heirlooms, or at least heirloom-grade. Mechanical pieces that can last a lifetime and be passed down from one generation to the next. These watches get better with age as dials turn tropical and a bezel warms with the scratches and marks from battles lost with tables and desks. They’ve lived a life.

But the junk-drawer watches I’m talking about were never designed to be passed down through the family tree. After the quartz revolution, companies like Swatch pushed the idea of the Fashion Watch . This category of timepieces were meant to be switched out every day based on your mood or look. Timepieces could be produced so quickly that customers started wearing them like T-shirts, looking for watches that could convey their personality, fandoms, or just embrace a fad. I’d argue that these goofy novelty watches get better with age, too. The reasoning is just different: Novelty timepieces benefit from the sepia-toned glasses of nostalgia we view them through.

I’ve been thinking about junk watches a lot as the dark clouds of the current watch industry crowd in on us. Whether you’re looking at primary or secondary market statistics, every number seems to be appearing in foreboding red as declines in sales stack up over the quarters. The fashion watches were a defined, if strange, period in the watch industry, and it seems that we’re currently in a transitional period between one era and the next. The new one seems to combine the collectability of luxury goods of the current market with the more high-octane designs of a previous generation.

The sharp teeth of the market also have me looking for opportunities to have fun collecting. Last week, I wrote about Summer Watches , and you can think of these as pieces meant for a summer fling. They’re goofy but irrepressibly delightful—the type of piece you could wear a couple of times a month, and definitely the one that will spark the most conversations. So this week I did a deep dive on eBay to find the cheapest and most fun watches I could.

For the gourmand

Pez watch ( $18 )

The aforementioned watch that dispenses Pez is probably the most ingenious timepiece on this list. We use pushers on watches to trigger sonneries, time races, or even play a miniature game of roulette . Now you can use it to treat yourself to a delicious Pez.

Pop open your bagel and schmear watch to find the time . This one is perfect because it’s always time for a bagel and cream cheese.

Bagel & Cream Cheese watch ( $48)

The most recognizable watches on this list are probably the food-shaped designs Austrian artist Alfred Hofkunst made for Swatch. These watches take on the look and even shape of a red pepper , cucumber , and bacon .

Alfred Hofkunst Bonjuhr ( $130 )

For the sports fan

1996 Atlanta Olympics Swatch Watch ( $30)

1996 Olympics watch ( $150)

The 1996 Atlanta Olympics, which were held during the peak of these novelty watches, were a bonanza of great timepieces: This one is as shiny as a gold medal , the design on this dial is sublimely of its time, and another features a pretty combination of green and gold .

Another watch for the Atlanta 1996 Olympics ( $18)

McDonald’s often used watches as promotional items—a testament to how cheap it was to produce these things. One of my favorites was made in honor of the Los Angeles Lakers’ 2002 Finals appearance. “It’s Laker Time!”

Los Angeles Lakers 2002 watch ( $19)

You used to have Michael Jordan posters on your wall, now you can have one on your wrist . Many of these cheapo watches have really fun straps, like the Nike-branded band on this MJ piece. Speaking of great straps, check this one out with cute little golfers embroidered on it .

Nike Michael Jordan watch ( $39)

Embroidered golf watch ( $20 )

I wish I could have been in the brainstorming session for this design: a timepiece for the Indy 500? How about one that looks like a steering wheel ? Awesome.

Indy 500 watch ( $85)

For the character lover

A secret watch but instead of some fancy bejeweled cover it’s just a giant Mickey Mouse glove covering the face .

Daisy Duck secret watch ( $40 )

Audemars Piguet makes incredibly detailed character tickers for Marvel characters, but has it ever considered doing one for the California Raisins ?

Don’t waste your time saving up to buy a minute repeater when this Tazmanian Devil watch will sing you a tune for just $80.

Steiff, the legendary teddy bear maker, once made a very fine-looking watch . The strap embroidered with, vaguely Grateful Dead-ish multi-colored bears is the icing on the cake.

Steiff watch ( $75)

For the label whore

Comme des Garçons rubber watches ( $45 for a working one in white )

Leave it to Comme des Garçons to combine a watch with a snap bracelet in a variety of nauseatingly bright colors . I’d never seen these before and I think they’re legitimately cool.

Gucci really embraced the idea of the fashion watch—i.e. a piece you could switch up to match every look— with this gold watch that comes with 16 multi-colored interchangeable bezels.

There are even goofy pocket watches

Here’s a novel take on the low-simmering pocket watch trend. Why not impress all your friends by pulling up with this leather pouch housing a Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time pocket watch ?

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time pocket watch ( $65 )

This Batman number with ornate hand designs is just as impressive. The silliest has to be a Michael Jordan pocket watch that comes with a pouch that looks like a basketball.

Things that make you smile for $400, Alex

Uncategorizable, but once upon a time even trivia heads were served by the watch industry. This piece commemorating the 15th anniversary of Jeopardy features a funky retro design.

Jeopardy watch ( $17 )

Welcome to Macintosh

The original Apple watch ( $279 )

A list like this wouldn’t be complete without an Apple-branded timepiece. This one featuring the company’s friendly computer icon is my fave .

And when you’re done putting watches on your wrist

Try them on your necktie .

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Trump’s Message: Prices (Plus Gangs, A.I. and ‘Bird Cemeteries’)

Former President Donald J. Trump was supposed to focus on the price of groceries at an event on Thursday. His attention wandered.

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By Shawn McCreesh

Reporting from Bedminster, N.J.

He was supposed to be talking about Country Crock.

It was Thursday afternoon, and former President Donald J. Trump was standing outside the clubhouse at his golf course in Bedminster, N.J. Behind him was a bunch of butter substitute, milk, eggs and various other groceries that had been laid out across two gold-topped tables with little white signs bearing all sorts of statistics and upward-shooting arrows that detailed the “Price Increase Since Kamala Harris Took Office.”

The day before, the Consumer Price Index report had been released, and Vice President Harris made plans to unveil her own economic agenda on Friday. So the Trump campaign threw together this news conference to get out ahead of her, to remind voters about inflation and Mr. Trump’s economic record. It came at a time when many of his allies were begging him to focus on a winning message.

But he appeared to get bored with the grocery talk after a few minutes. And so, there he stood, beside the Froot Loops and the Wheaties and the Lunchables and the Folgers and the Oreos and the Wonder Bread, talking about MS-13 gang members and Elon Musk and communism and artificial intelligence and John Kerry and windmills and “bird cemeteries” and diesel fuel and Bagram airport and Viktor Orban and the homicide rate in Chicago.

After 45 minutes, Mr. Trump, who has described himself as a bacon-and-eggs guy, glanced down at the food and seemed to remember why he was standing out there in the first place. “I haven’t seen Cheerios in a long time,” he said. “I’m going to take them back with me.”

This was a news conference about the economy in set design only.

“This is a rally,” said Edward X. Young, a Trump supporter who said he’s been to 82 rallies and turned up to Bedminster because he knew Thursday would be no different. “He’ll call it a press conference, but it’s always a rally.”

Indeed, Mr. Trump used the occasion to do pretty much what he always does: to ramble, to mix it up with his foes in the press, to put on a spectacle for his people, and to lap up their applause in return.

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We encourage authors to upload their code and data as part of their supplementary material in order to help reviewers assess the quality of the work. Check the policy as well as code submission guidelines and templates for further details.

Use of Large Language Models (LLMs): We welcome authors to use any tool that is suitable for preparing high-quality papers and research. However, we ask authors to keep in mind two important criteria. First, we expect papers to fully describe their methodology, and any tool that is important to that methodology, including the use of LLMs, should be described also. For example, authors should mention tools (including LLMs) that were used for data processing or filtering, visualization, facilitating or running experiments, and proving theorems. It may also be advisable to describe the use of LLMs in implementing the method (if this corresponds to an important, original, or non-standard component of the approach). Second, authors are responsible for the entire content of the paper, including all text and figures, so while authors are welcome to use any tool they wish for writing the paper, they must ensure that all text is correct and original.

Double-blind reviewing:   All submissions must be anonymized and may not contain any identifying information that may violate the double-blind reviewing policy.  This policy applies to any supplementary or linked material as well, including code.  If you are including links to any external material, it is your responsibility to guarantee anonymous browsing.  Please do not include acknowledgements at submission time. If you need to cite one of your own papers, you should do so with adequate anonymization to preserve double-blind reviewing.  For instance, write “In the previous work of Smith et al. [1]…” rather than “In our previous work [1]...”). If you need to cite one of your own papers that is in submission to NeurIPS and not available as a non-anonymous preprint, then include a copy of the cited anonymized submission in the supplementary material and write “Anonymous et al. [1] concurrently show...”). Any papers found to be violating this policy will be rejected.

OpenReview: We are using OpenReview to manage submissions. The reviews and author responses will not be public initially (but may be made public later, see below). As in previous years, submissions under review will be visible only to their assigned program committee. We will not be soliciting comments from the general public during the reviewing process. Anyone who plans to submit a paper as an author or a co-author will need to create (or update) their OpenReview profile by the full paper submission deadline. Your OpenReview profile can be edited by logging in and clicking on your name in https://openreview.net/ . This takes you to a URL "https://openreview.net/profile?id=~[Firstname]_[Lastname][n]" where the last part is your profile name, e.g., ~Wei_Zhang1. The OpenReview profiles must be up to date, with all publications by the authors, and their current affiliations. The easiest way to import publications is through DBLP but it is not required, see FAQ . Submissions without updated OpenReview profiles will be desk rejected. The information entered in the profile is critical for ensuring that conflicts of interest and reviewer matching are handled properly. Because of the rapid growth of NeurIPS, we request that all authors help with reviewing papers, if asked to do so. We need everyone’s help in maintaining the high scientific quality of NeurIPS.  

Please be aware that OpenReview has a moderation policy for newly created profiles: New profiles created without an institutional email will go through a moderation process that can take up to two weeks. New profiles created with an institutional email will be activated automatically.

Venue home page: https://openreview.net/group?id=NeurIPS.cc/2024/Conference

If you have any questions, please refer to the FAQ: https://openreview.net/faq

Abstract Submission: There is a mandatory abstract submission deadline on May 15, 2024, six days before full paper submissions are due. While it will be possible to edit the title and abstract until the full paper submission deadline, submissions with “placeholder” abstracts that are rewritten for the full submission risk being removed without consideration. This includes titles and abstracts that either provide little or no semantic information (e.g., "We provide a new semi-supervised learning method.") or describe a substantively different claimed contribution.  The author list cannot be changed after the abstract deadline. After that, authors may be reordered, but any additions or removals must be justified in writing and approved on a case-by-case basis by the program chairs only in exceptional circumstances. 

Ethics review: Reviewers and ACs may flag submissions for ethics review . Flagged submissions will be sent to an ethics review committee for comments. Comments from ethics reviewers will be considered by the primary reviewers and AC as part of their deliberation. They will also be visible to authors, who will have an opportunity to respond.  Ethics reviewers do not have the authority to reject papers, but in extreme cases papers may be rejected by the program chairs on ethical grounds, regardless of scientific quality or contribution.  

Preprints: The existence of non-anonymous preprints (on arXiv or other online repositories, personal websites, social media) will not result in rejection. If you choose to use the NeurIPS style for the preprint version, you must use the “preprint” option rather than the “final” option. Reviewers will be instructed not to actively look for such preprints, but encountering them will not constitute a conflict of interest. Authors may submit anonymized work to NeurIPS that is already available as a preprint (e.g., on arXiv) without citing it. Note that public versions of the submission should not say "Under review at NeurIPS" or similar.

Dual submissions: Submissions that are substantially similar to papers that the authors have previously published or submitted in parallel to other peer-reviewed venues with proceedings or journals may not be submitted to NeurIPS. Papers previously presented at workshops are permitted, so long as they did not appear in a conference proceedings (e.g., CVPRW proceedings), a journal or a book.  NeurIPS coordinates with other conferences to identify dual submissions.  The NeurIPS policy on dual submissions applies for the entire duration of the reviewing process.  Slicing contributions too thinly is discouraged.  The reviewing process will treat any other submission by an overlapping set of authors as prior work. If publishing one would render the other too incremental, both may be rejected.

Anti-collusion: NeurIPS does not tolerate any collusion whereby authors secretly cooperate with reviewers, ACs or SACs to obtain favorable reviews. 

Author responses:   Authors will have one week to view and respond to initial reviews. Author responses may not contain any identifying information that may violate the double-blind reviewing policy. Authors may not submit revisions of their paper or supplemental material, but may post their responses as a discussion in OpenReview. This is to reduce the burden on authors to have to revise their paper in a rush during the short rebuttal period.

After the initial response period, authors will be able to respond to any further reviewer/AC questions and comments by posting on the submission’s forum page. The program chairs reserve the right to solicit additional reviews after the initial author response period.  These reviews will become visible to the authors as they are added to OpenReview, and authors will have a chance to respond to them.

After the notification deadline, accepted and opted-in rejected papers will be made public and open for non-anonymous public commenting. Their anonymous reviews, meta-reviews, author responses and reviewer responses will also be made public. Authors of rejected papers will have two weeks after the notification deadline to opt in to make their deanonymized rejected papers public in OpenReview.  These papers are not counted as NeurIPS publications and will be shown as rejected in OpenReview.

Publication of accepted submissions:   Reviews, meta-reviews, and any discussion with the authors will be made public for accepted papers (but reviewer, area chair, and senior area chair identities will remain anonymous). Camera-ready papers will be due in advance of the conference. All camera-ready papers must include a funding disclosure . We strongly encourage accompanying code and data to be submitted with accepted papers when appropriate, as per the code submission policy . Authors will be allowed to make minor changes for a short period of time after the conference.

Contemporaneous Work: For the purpose of the reviewing process, papers that appeared online within two months of a submission will generally be considered "contemporaneous" in the sense that the submission will not be rejected on the basis of the comparison to contemporaneous work. Authors are still expected to cite and discuss contemporaneous work and perform empirical comparisons to the degree feasible. Any paper that influenced the submission is considered prior work and must be cited and discussed as such. Submissions that are very similar to contemporaneous work will undergo additional scrutiny to prevent cases of plagiarism and missing credit to prior work.

Plagiarism is prohibited by the NeurIPS Code of Conduct .

Other Tracks: Similarly to earlier years, we will host multiple tracks, such as datasets, competitions, tutorials as well as workshops, in addition to the main track for which this call for papers is intended. See the conference homepage for updates and calls for participation in these tracks. 

Experiments: As in past years, the program chairs will be measuring the quality and effectiveness of the review process via randomized controlled experiments. All experiments are independently reviewed and approved by an Institutional Review Board (IRB).

Financial Aid: Each paper may designate up to one (1) NeurIPS.cc account email address of a corresponding student author who confirms that they would need the support to attend the conference, and agrees to volunteer if they get selected. To be considered for Financial the student will also need to fill out the Financial Aid application when it becomes available.