Chapter II: Part 2

Orignal Text | Annotations
|
Valerius Terminus: |
Of the Interpretation{1} of Nature | 1A.
| The word "interpretation" occurs
| also e.g. in the title of the essay
| DE INTERPRETATIONE NATURAE PROEMIUM
| (1603; in Spedding vol. III) and in
| his definition of man as "the servant
| and interpreter of Nature" (IV,47).
| This definition of man is the same
| definition that we find in the
| magico-alchemical tradition which is
| in general refuted by Bacon. Paolo
| Rossi ("Bacon's idea of science", in:
| THE CAMBRIDGE COMPANION TO BACON, ed.
| by Markku Peltonen [1996], 25-46)
| gives the following comment:
|
| "Bacon condemned magic and alchemy on
| ethical grounds. He accused them of
| imposture and of megalomania. He
| refuted their non-participatory
| method and their intentional
| unintelligibility, their attempt to
| replace human sweat by a few drops of
| elixir. But he borrows from the
| magico-alchemical tradition the idea
| that man can attempt to make himself
| the master of nature. Bacon
| understands knowledge not as
| contemplation or recognition, but as
| VENATIO, a hunt, an exploration of
| unknown lands, a discovery of the
| unknown. Nature can be transformed
| from its foundations. Bacon's
| definition of man as "the servant and
| interpreter of Nature" is the same
| definition we find in the magico-
| alchemical tradition, for instance in
| the texts of Cornelius Agrippa von
| Nettesheim.
|
| But for all the exponents of magic
| and alchemistic culture, the texts of
| ancient wisdom take the form of
| sacred texts which indude secrets
| that only a few men can decipher The
| truth is hidden in the past and in
| the profound. Like when dealing with
| sacred texts, it is necessary
| continuously to go BEYOND THE LETTER,
| in search of a message which is more
| and more hidden.The secret message
| expresses a Truth which is at the
| Origins and which is always the same.
|
| In the Hermetic tradition, as in the
| tradition of Platonism, the natural
| world is conceived as the image or
| living manifestation of God.
| Understanding nature can reveal the
| presence in the world of divine ideas
| and archetypes. Bacon's rejection of
| any natural philosophy founded on
| allegorical interpretations of
| Scriptures meant a withdrawal from
| exemplarism and symbolism, both
| common features of mediaeval
| philosophy and still flourishing in
| the seventeenth century. As all works
| --says Bacon--show the power and
| ability of their maker, but not his
| image, so God's works "do shew the
| omnipotency and wisdom of the maker
| but not his image" (III, 350). The
| distinction between the will and
| power of God, so fully and subtly
| present in Baconian texts, is very
| important. "The heavens declare the
| glory of God, and the firmament
| showeth his handworks": this verse
| from the Psalms (18,2) is quoted by
| Bacon several times. The image of the
| world, immediately after the Word, is
| a sign of the divine wisdom and
| power, and yet the Scriptures do not
| call the world ,"the image of God,"
| but regard it only as "the work of
| his hands," neither do they speak of
| any image of God other than man.
| Theology is concerned with knowing
| the book of the word of God, natural
| philosophy studies the book of God's
| works. The book of Scripture reveals
| the will of God, the book of nature,
| his power. The study of nature has
| nothing to say about God's essence or
| his will (IV; 340-3).
|
| Bacon proposed to the European
| culture an alternative view of
| science. For him science had a
| public, democratic, and collaborative
| character, individual efforts
| contributing to its general success.
| In science, as Bacon conceives it,
| truly effective results (not the
| illusory achievements of magicians
| and alchemists) can be attained only
| through collaboration among
| researchers, circulation of results,
| and clarity of language. Scientific
| understanding is not an individual
| undertaking. The extension of man's
| power over nature is never the work
| of a single investigator who keeps
| his results secret, but is the fruit
| of an organized community financed by
| the state or by public bodies. Every
| reform of learning is always a reform
| also of cultural institutions and
| universities.
|
| Not only a new image of science, but
| also a new portrait of the "natural
| philosopher" took shape in Bacon's
| writings. This portrait differed both
| from that of the ancient philosopher
| or sage and from the image of the
| saint, the monk, the university
| professor, the courtier, the perfect
| prince, the magus. The values and the
| ends theorized for the composite
| groups of intellectuals and artisans
| who contributed in the early
| seventeenth century to the
| development of science were different
| from the goals of individual sanctity
| or literary immortality and from the
| aims of an exceptional and "demonic"
| personality.
|
| A chaste patience, a natural modesty,
| grave and composed manners, a smiling
| pity are the characteristics of the
| man of science in Bacon's portrait of
| him. In the REDARGUTIO PHILOSOPHIARUM
| Bacon wrote:
|
| Then he told me that in Paris a
| friend had taken him along and
| introduced him to a gathering, 'the
| sight of which', he said, 'would
| rejoice your eyes. lt was the
| happiest experience of my life'.
| There were some fifty men there, all
| of mature years, not a young man
| among them, all bearing the stamp of
| dignity and probity... At his entry
| they were chatting easily among
| themselves but sitting in rows as if
| expecting somebody. Not long after
| there entered to them a man of
| peaceful and serene air, save that
| his face had become habituated to the
| expression of pity... he took his
| seat, not on a platform or pulpit,
| but on level with the rest and
| delivered the following address...
| (III, 559; Farrington's translation).
|
| Bacon's portrait doubtless resembles
| Galileo or Einstein more than it does
| the turbulent Paracelsus or the
| unquiet and skittish Cornelius
| Agrippa. The titanic bearing of the
| Renaissance magus is now supplanted
| by a classical composure similar to
| that of the "conversations" of the
| earliest Humanists. Also in Galileo's
| DIALOGO and in Descartes's RECHERCHE
| DE LA VERITÉ we find the same
| familiar tone and style of
| conversation in which [Descartes
| wrote] "several friends, frankly and
| without ceremony, disclose the best
| of their thoughts to each other." But
| there is besides, in Bacon, the quiet
| confidence that comes from knowing
| the new powers made available to man
| by technology and collaboration.The
| new kind of learning, for which Bacon
| is searching, must get away from
| touches of genius, arbitrary
| conclusions, chance, hasty summaries.
| The emphasis Iaid by Bacon on the
| social factor in scientific research
| and in determining its ends, places
| his philosophy on a radically
| different plane from that of the
| followers of Hermetic tradition."
|
| In DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM Bacon
| describes Orpheus as the mythical
| prototype of the philosopher ("Orpheus
| sive Philosophia", VI, 646-649).
|
| 1B.
| Bacon gives the following
| definition of "interpretation: "that
| reason which is elicited from facts
| by a just and methodological process,
| I call INTERPRETATION OF NATURE" (IV,
| 51). Now, this definition means a
| harsh critique of Aristotelianism,
| Scholasticism and Ramism. Michel
| Malherbe comments on this:
|
| "The main and most characteristic
| feature of Bacon's epistemology is
| that it rests upon a single method,
| which is INDUCTION... It must help
| the understanding on its way toward
| truth... Thus, true knowledge will go
| from a lower certainty to a higher
| liberty and from a lower liberty to a
| higher certainty, and so on. This
| rule is the basic principle of
| Bacon's theory of science; prepared
| in the natural and experimental
| history, determining the relationship
| between the tables of presence, it
| governs the induction of axioms and
| the abstraction of notions and
| ordains the divisions of sciences
| within the general system of
| knowledge. lt is well known that this
| rule of invention originates in
| Ramus's methodology and, more
| formerly, in Aristotle's POSTERIOR
| ANALYTICS. To characterize the nature
| of the premises required for the
| foundation of true demonstrations,
| Aristotle had set down three
| criteria: the predicate must be true
| in every instance of its subject; it
| must be part of the essential nature
| of the subject; and it must be
| universal, that is, related to the
| subject by itself and QUA itself.
| Aristotle was defining first
| propositions as being essential
| propositions; and he referred
| universality to necessity and
| extension to comprehension These
| three criteria were much commented
| upon during the whole scholastic
| period, and were transformed, or
| rather extended, by Ramus and others
| in the sixteenth century. Whereas in
| Aristotle they had expressed the
| initial conditions of any conclusive
| syllogism, in Ramus they became the
| conditions of every systematic art:
| within a system, methodically
| organized for the exhibiting of
| knowledge, any statement must be
| taken in its full extension, it must
| join things which are necessarily
| related and it must be equivalent to
| a definition. But these rules for
| syllogistic or dialectic art in
| Aristotle or Ramus become rules for
| inductive invention in Bacon: and
| their meaning is quite different.
| With the rule of certainty and
| liberty, Bacon aims at directiy
| opposing the old logic, infected by
| syllogistic or rhetoric formalism.
|
| By its title, the NOVUM ORGANUM makes
| Bacon's ambition clear: to replace
| the Aristotelian organon, which has
| governed all knowledge until the end
| of the sixteenth century with an
| entirely new logical instrument, a
| new method for the progress and
| profit of human science. And the
| Chancellor proclaims that he has
| achieved his aim, if posterity
| acknowledges that, even if he has
| failed to discover new truths or
| produce new works, he will have built
| the means to discover such truths or
| to produce such works (III, 520). He
| insists that his method has nothing
| to do with the old one nor does it
| try to improve it. And he puts out
| the choice in these terms:
|
| There are and can be only two ways of
| searching into and discovering truth.
| The one flies from the senses and
| particulars to the most general
| axioms, and from these principles,
| the truth of which it takes tor
| settled and immoveable, proceeds to
| judgment and to the discovery of
| middle axioms. And this way is now in
| fashion. The other derives axioms
| from the senses and particulars,
| rising by a gradual and unbroken
| ascent, so that it arrives at the
| most general axioms last of all. This
| is the true way, but as yet untried.
| (IV, 50)
|
| When it is left to itself, the
| understanding follows the first way,
| hastily applies itself to reality and
| generates ANTICIPATIONS OF NATURE.
| But "that reason which is elicited
| from facts by a just and
| methodological process, I call
| INTERPRETATION OF NATURE" (IV, 51).
|
| Taken as a whole, Bacon's critique
| comes to this: from a formal point of
| view, Aristotle's syllogism is
| essentially a logic for deductive
| reasoning, which goes from the
| principles to the consequences, from
| the premises to the conclusions. And,
| of course, in this kind of reasoning,
| the truth of the conclusions is
| necessarily derived from the truth of
| the premises, so that knowledge will
| start with primary truths that are
| supposed to be necessary and
| universal, that is, essential. Now,
| Bacon asks, how does the mind acquire
| the knowledge of these primary
| truths, since, as it is allowed by
| Aristotle himself, all knowledge
| starts with experience, which
| experience is always contingent and
| particular? How does the mind go from
| the empirical knowledge of facts or
| sensible effects (phenomena) to the
| knowledge of the very nature of
| things? The formal necessity of the
| syllogism (or deductive reasoning)
| makes the old logic forget the pre-
| judicial question of how we set up
| first principles. Therefore, any
| attempt to define the valid form of
| theories must go through the inquiry
| upon how we establish truth.
|
| From this general critique, it is
| easy to understand Bacon's various
| comments on the old organon. First,
| since such a logic induces a kind of
| double start, the empirical one and
| the rational one, and since it
| confuses the origin of knowledge with
| its foundation, the mind is condemned
| to jump immediately from empirical
| particulars to first principles (or
| axioms, in Bacon's terms) and to
| render superfluous the required
| induction which would gradually lead
| from one point to the other. This
| instantaneous slip from empirical
| data to rational and essential dogmas
| is made possible by the very nature
| of the human mind. Left to itself,
| the mind hurries toward certainty; it
| is prone to gain assent and consent;
| it fills the imagination with idols,
| untested generalities. And it is this
| natural haste and prejudice which
| gives mental activity its
| anticipative form. By themselves,
| anticipations draw the most general
| principles from immediate experience,
| in order to proceed, as quickly as
| possible, to the formal deduction of
| consequences. Therefore, however
| paradoxical it may appear, the old
| logic is unduly empirical and unduly
| logical. And the critique of
| formalism [formalism draws the
| conclusions from the premises without
| inquiring upon the truth of the
| premises] must be attended by the
| critique of the nature of the human
| mind.
|
| The human mind is so disposed that it
| relies on the senses, which provide
| it with the rudiments of all
| knowledge. Of course, Bacon argues,
| we cannot get any information about
| things except with the senses, and
| skeptics are wrong when, questioning
| them, they plunge the mind into
| despair. "But by far the greatest
| hindrance and aberration of the human
| understanding proceeds from the
| dulness, incompetency, and deceptions
| of the senses" (IV, 58). On the one
| hand, they are too dull and too
| gross, and let the more subtle parts
| of nature escape our observation:
| their range is limited to the most
| conspicuous information. On the other
| hand, they are misleading, by a
| fundamental illusion: they offer
| things to the mind according to the
| measure of human nature. "For it is a
| false assertion that the sense of man
| is the measure of things. On the
| contrary, all perceptions as well of
| the sense as of the mind are
| according to the measure of the
| individual and not according to the
| measure of the universe" (IV, 54). In
| order to have access to reality, we
| have to rectify their information and
| reduce a double delusion: the
| illusion that the sensible qualities
| offered by them are the real
| determinations of things and the
| illusion that things are divided
| according to our human sensibility
| (IV, 194 et sq.).
|
| Thus we can understand a third
| critique against the old method: the
| Aristotelian logic rests upon a
| metaphysics which believes that
| sensible experience gives the human
| mind the things as they are, with
| their essential qualities, and that
| philosophy can be satisfied with
| taking empirical phenomena for the
| true reality of nature, thanks to a
| mere generalization that erases the
| particular circumstances of
| existence. Nevertheless, empirically
| qualified existences are not to be
| mistaken for the things themselves.
| So far, Bacon is undoubtedly a
| modern, since he claims that the
| object of knowledge is reality and
| that reality, if it can be
| inductively known from empirical
| data, cannot be reduced to the matter
| of experience.
|
| Bacon's fourth censure of the old
| logic follows from this. He agrees
| with the sixteenth-century
| dialecticians that Aristotle was
| wrong when he thought that
| understanding could skip, without the
| hard work of induction, from what is
| immediately given to the senses to
| what is posed in the first principles
| of science. Aristotle wanted to know
| the truth, but did not explain the
| method of invention. On the other
| hand, the dialecticians, giving up
| the attempt to set up the first
| principles (and thereby the
| traditional Aristotelian
| demonstrative science), gave up any
| attempt to reach the truth. They only
| retained the deductive and systematic
| form of discourse to introduce order
| into men's opinions, and maintained
| that invention could be reduced to
| the mere search for arguments, that
| is, for probable reasons invented to
| persuade or convince.
|
| Bacon, however, wants to promote the
| idea of an inductive science and
| argues that Aristotle's mistake
| affects the syllogistic form. In the
| fourth chapter of the fifth book of
| the DE AUGMENTIS, Bacon develops a
| remarkable critique of the syllogism
| and is partly responsible for the
| widespread disregard of formal logic
| in the seventeenth and eighteenth
| centuries.
|
| According to Bacon, "in all
| inductions, whether in good or
| vicious form the same action of the
| mind which inventeth, judgeth" (III,
| 392). One cannot find without
| proving, nor prove without finding.
| But this is not the case in the
| syllogism: "for the proof being not
| immediate but by mean, the invention
| of the mean is one thing, and the
| judgement of the consequence is
| another, the one exciting only, the
| other examining" (III, 392). The
| syllogism needs the means (the middle
| term) so that the derived conclusion
| amounts to a proof. But since the
| syllogism is incapable of inventing
| the middle term, it must have been
| known before. In other words,
| syllogistic form leaves the invention
| of the middle term to the natural
| shrewdness of the mind or to good
| fortune. Thus, it is because of its
| own demonstrative form that the
| syllogism is unable to provide a
| method of truth and is useless for
| science.
|
| By now it is clear why the old logic
| and the knowledge which is built on it
| are unable to produce works or why the
| extant works "are due to chance and
| experience rather than to sciences"
| (IV, 48). To deduce practical effects,
| the mind must know real causes or laws
| of nature. Since the old method does
| not supply the mind with the means of
| inventing causes and does not set up
| the scale of the intermediate
| propositions that are needed to reduce
| sensible experience and reach the real
| science, or to derive rightly and by
| degrees the consequences from the
| principles, it is not surprising that
| invented works are too few and not
| very useful for men's lives. Thus,
| from the start in sensible experience
| to the end in practical deduction,
| this old method is of no use. And an
| entirely new one must be proposed,
| which will be able to carry the human
| mind from empirical data to the real
| causes, to supply it with the means of
| invention, to justify the position of
| first truths and to manage a secure
| deduction of practical consequences.
| And, as the critique of the old logic
| has to be understood as a whole, so
| the interpretation of nature has to be
| conceived as a continuous attempt,
| proceeding by degrees, by successive
| stages, to invent truth and to derive
| works. ("Bacon's method of science",
| in: THE CAMBRIDGE COMPANION TO BACON.
| ed. by Markku Peltonen [1996], 76-82).
|
| 1C.
| Harvey Wheeler comments:
|
| Most historians of the philosophy of science
| are unfamiliar with Bacon's transformation
| of his innovative theory of juridical
| lawfinding into scientific empiricist
| lawfinding. Baconian law-finding is not to
| be confused with cause-finding in modern
| "classical" physics.
|
| Bacon's quest changed as he matured. In
| VALERIUS TERMINUS he is writing in
| English, trying to lay the groundwork for
| the validity of the co-existence of Religion
| and Science.
|
| Bacon’s early experimental treatises--like
| Dense and Rare--are experimental and of
| limited value. Historians of the philosophy
| of science have little trouble in disposing
| these early experimentalist efforts of Bacon.
|
| His work on sound was somewhat better--
| experimental-theoretical. It is a
| post-pythagorean theory of harmonics and
| still not appropriately analyzed.
| Contemproary musicologists like to quote
| the passages on sound in NEW ATLANTIS
| for being compatible with today’s approach
| to music.
|
| By the time of the Novum Organum Bacon
| was seeking a more "general theory of
| science." Its 'logic machine' (Hooke) was
| designed to be relevant to all
| non-theological domains.
|
| However, most Bacon interpreters evaluate
| his science in contrast to the prior
| Aristotelian approaches and in comparison
| to the Ramist approaches of Bacon’s day.
| He rejected them both.
|
| Scholars then look beyond Bacon and
| evaluate his logic machine in contrast to the
| "classical mechanics" of Newtonian Optics
| (physics): linear time-sequence prediction.
|
| Bacon was not seeking that type of
| "cause/prediction"science. He was seeking
| hidden, "unwritten" "laws" of nature,
| more on the model of Pasteur than of
| Newton.
|
| Any treatment that tries to interpret
| Bacon's Logic Machine in the light of what
| classical physics called "science" will
| distort Bacon's meaning and achievement.
|
| Note: if a scholar's interpretation of
| Bacon's Science does not square with the
| detailed description of the application of
| Bacon's science in "Salomon's House" in
| NEW ATLANTIS, it should be viewed with
| scepticism.
|
| Bacon's science is more applicable to what
| we call post-modern neo-hermeutics than to
| Newtonian mechanics. (Patrick Heelan is
| good on post-modern neo-hermeneutics.)
|
| Consider: why did Bacon conclude that his
| New Logic Machine would produce
| scientific knowledge in the form of
| aphorisms and apothegms--not linear
| time-sequence predictions?
|
| To summarize the above:: Most
| contemporary interpreters of Bacon
| evaluate his science by comparison with
| Newtonian mechanics. If one interprets
| Bacon on the basis of classical mechanics,
| the result will not truly reflect Bacon's
| science.
|
| A more fruitful modern model is the
| Watson-Crick type of "science" illustrated
| by their discovery of the double helix. Their
| process, as described carefully in Watson's
| book, could have been lifted from Bacon. It
| was not. But the point is that it tells of a
| highly successful, highly empiricist (in
| Bacon's and Kant's meaning of
| phenomenological empiricism) approach to
| the "understanding" of the "unwritten
| laws" of cell theory and genetics.
|
| NOTE: It is very instructive to study why
| Linus Pauling failed to dsiscover the genetic
| code. He was an expert in the physics of
| biochemistry and applied quantum theory
| to molecular biology. His theory of the
| molecular bond won a Nobel Laureate.
|
| Read Watson's explanation of why Pauling
| failed to crack the genetic code.
|
| Guenther Stent, the molecular biologist of
| U.C. Berkeley is an avowed Kantian
| who narrowly missed cracking the genetic
| code, His philosophy of science is
| highly relevant to the application of
| neo-hermeneutics to contemporary biology.
|
| Today's philosophy of physics, as developed
| by John Wheeler and David Bohm
| describes a "Baconian" idea of the
| "participant-observer universe" to account
| "scientifically" and empirically for the
| evidence produced in post-modern physics.
|
| I hold to two points that may not persuade
| others. The first is the relevance of
| "law-finding" to the phenemonological
| empiricism at the heart of Bacon's Nov Org
| logic machine--as contrasted with his early
| experimentalism. The second is the
| standard for us to use in evaluating Bacon's
| science. Those who apply the model of
| science widespread in the social sciences
| and humanities during the 19th and mid
| 20th centuries--essentially a model based
| upon pre-Einsteinian physics--argue that
| Bacon's science is not "science."
|
| In the last half of the 20th century
| "science" in both the "hard" and "soft"
| sciences underwent the so-called "second
| scientific revolution." The results, in
| physics and biology, produced a
| phenomenology and an empiricism
| that were both quite compatible with the
| pre-Newtonian science of Bacon.
|
| About 80% of the actual research in
| laboratories done today by scientists of
| all fields, (unaware) follows remarkably
| closely to the process explained by
| Bacon in Novum Organum and described in
| New Atlantis--except that taskforce
| research is not today quite as well
| organized as was described by Bacon in
| New Atlantis.
|
| In thinking of Bacon's philosophy of science
| remember the three features in the Latin of
| Novum Organum: Schematismus,
| Processus, Form. These operations, which
| have counterparts in the "case method" of
| searching for the implicit unwritten law
| behind a series of judge rulings, cannot be
| understood from a reading of the Ellis
| translation. Nobody who works from that
| version can understand, nor do justice to,
| Bacon's science.
with the Annotations of |
Hermes Stella{2} | 2. Franz Trägfer sums up the
Harley MSS.6463 | discussion on "Hermes Stella"
| and "Valerius Terminus" "Der Titel des
| Fragments wurde zweimal entscheidend
| interpretiert. Ellis (Vorwort,
| 201/2):
|
| "It is impossible to ascertain
| the motive which determined
| Bacon to give the supposed
| author the name of Valerius
| Terminus, or to his
| commentator, of whose
| annotations we have no remains,
| that of Hermes Stella. It may
| be conjectured that by the name
| Terminus he intended to
| intimate that the new
| philosophy would put an end to
| the wandering of mankind in
| search of truth, that it would
| be the TERMINUS AD QAEM in
| which when it was once attained
| the mind would finally
| acquiesce.
|
| Again the obscurity of the text
| was to be in some measure
| removed by the annotations of
| Stella; not however wholly, for
| Bacon in the epitome of the
| eighteenth chapter commends the
| manner of publishing knowledge
| 'whereby it shall not be to the
| capacity nor taste of all, but
| shall as it were single and
| adopt his reader.' Stella was
| therefore to throw a kind of
| starlight on the subject,
| enough to prevent the student's
| losing his way, but not much
| more."
|
| Die andere klassische
| Interpretation gibt Anderson
| (op.cit.16/17):
|
| "The word 'terminus' probably
| indicates the 'limits and end'
| to which investigation may
| proceed. The ANNOTATIONS, of
| which 'none are set down in
| this fragments'--to quote a
| statement written on the
| manuscript by Bacon's hand, are
| to throw a light as by a star
| (STELLA). Now 'star' is the
| symbol used by Bacon in the
| GESTA GRAYORUM, the ADVANCEMENT
| OF LEARNING, and the DE
| AUGMENTIS to represent the
| sovereign. And the significance
| which he attaches to the word
| 'Hermes' is evident from his
| address to King James in the
| Introduction to the ADVANCEMENT
| OF LEARNING. 'There is met in
| your Majesty, says Bacon, 'a
| rare conjunction as well of
| divine and sacred literature as
| of profane and human; so as
| your Majesty standeth invested
| of that triplicity which in
| great veneration was ascribed
| to the ancient Hermes; the
| power and fortune of a King,
| the knowledge and illumination
| of a Priest, and the learning
| and the universality of a
| Philosopher.' Bacon is, or
| pretended to be, greatly
| impressed by James's learning:
| 'To drink indeed', he says, 'of
| the true fountains of learning,
| nay to have such a fountain of
| learning in himself, in a king,
| and in a king born, is always a
| miracle.' And it would appear
| that he hopes at the beginning
| of James's reign--long before
| he suffers disillusionment
| respecting his sovereign's
| interest in the advance of
| 'solid' knowledge--that,
| whether or not he can obtain a
| greater position of state
| beyond that alloted to him by
| Elizabeth, he may be enabled to
| have the modern Hermes, king of
| the realm and head of the
| church, and a literary man of
| no mean fame and importance,
| annote a subject's work on the
| new science. James, when he has
| done this, may well be
| prevailed upon to make
| provision for the operation of
| the new method of knowledge
| either by subsidizing helpers
| or by placing at the author's
| disposal old or new foundations
| of learning (Works, II, 175,
| 180; VI, 90, 172; VIII, 396,
| 401)."
|
| Brandt (op.cit., 54) Iehnt
| diese Interpretation ab:
| "1. findet sich keine klare
| Bezeichnung des Königs als
| eines Sterns, es läßt sich den
| von Anderson angegebenen Texten
| nicht entnehmen, daß Stella als
| Symbol für Jakob I. zu gelten
| hat. 2. kann nur ein König als
| Hermes-Trismegistos
| angesprochen werden (so VIII,
| 335 und I, 432, nicht in der
| englischen Fassung III, 263),
| weil im Namen die Einheit von
| Priester, Philosoph und König
| liegt, aber im Titel unserer
| Schrift steht nur Hermes, und
| die Figur des Hermes hat eme
| vielfältige Bedeutung; Hermes
| ist der Grenzgott, auf ihn wird
| schon in dem Wort 'Terminus'
| des Titels angespielt; weiter
| ist Hermes der Götterbote, der
| 'hermeneus' oder Interpret--
| die Hermesmythologie ist
| hineingesponnen in die
| interpretatio naturae, die sich
| Bacon zur Aufgabe stellt und in
| seine Rolle als 'keryx´ und
| `buccinator', als Bote des
| Friedens (I, 580-581). Man wird
| also lieber Hermes Stella eine
| der vielen Masken Bacons sein
| lassen und sich damit zugleich
| von der peinlichen Vorstellung
| befreien, Bacon künde im Titel
| seines Werkes an, daß der König
| die Fußnoten dazu verfaßt (eben
| das folgt aus der Annahme von
| Anderson)."
|
| Dieser Auseinandersetzung urn
| die Bedeutung des Titels eine
| neue Erklärung anzufügen, halte
| ich, solange keine neuen
| Dokumente gefunden werden, für
| wenig sinnvoll. Allein, es sei
| angemerkt, wollten wir uns mit
| Brandt von dieser peinlichen
| Vorstellung bezüglich Bacons
| Denken und Trachten befreien,
| so blieben noch genug
| Peinlichkeiten der Hybris
| Bacons."
|
| Franz Träger (Hg.), Valerius
| Terminus. Von der
| Interpretation der Natur
| Würzburg: Königshausen und
| Neumann, 1984,25-26.
|
in: The Works of Francis Bacon. Faksimile- |
Neudruck der Ausgabe von Spedding, Ellis |
und Heath, London 1857-1874, in vierzehn |
Bänden (Stuttgart/Bad Cannstadt: Friedrich |
Fromann, Verlag Günther Holzboog, 1963), |
vol. 3.{3} | 3. Franz Träger discovered that the
| Spedding & Ellis as MS6462 is not
| correct, in fact it is MS6463. In
| his opinion Valerius Terminus was
| written before The Advancement of
| Learning. Anderson, Farrington
| and Rossi also have the opinion
| that it was written in 1603.
| Stephens in his edition of 1734
| uses the same order as the
| handwritten copy of Bacon's text.
| Later editors, including Spedding
| and Ellis, choose an order which
| corresponds to Bacon's new order
| of chapters given in his index.
| Franz Träger compared the
| translation of the 11th chapter
| with the translation of Guiseppe
| Furlani, DIE ENTSTEHUNG UND DAS
| WESEN DER BACONISCHEN METHODE in:
| Archiv für Geschichte der
| Philosophie, ed. L. Stein, 33.
| Bd., Berlin, 1921, S.23-47. (1.
| Teil, 32. Bd., S. 189 ff).
| Träger has also checked the
| following Bacon translations:
|
| ESSAYS, übers. von Elisabeth
| Schücking, Stuttgart, 1970;
|
| NEUES ORGANON DER WISSENSCHAFTEN,
| übers. von Anton Theobald Brück,
| Darmstadt, 1981 (Nachdruck der
| Ausgabe, Leipzig, 1830);
|
| NOVUM ORGANON, übers. von Rudolf
| Hoffmann, bearb. von Gertraud Korf,
| hrsg. von Manfred Buhr, Berlin (DDR),
| 1982.
|
|
|
|
|
|
OF THE INTERPRETATION OF NATURE. |
|
|
CAP. 1. |
Of the limits and end of knowledge. |
|
In the divine nature both religion and |
philosophy hath acknowledged goodness in |
perfection, science or providence |
comprehending all things, and absolute |
sovereignty or kingdom. In aspiring to the |
throne of power the angels transgressed |
and fell{4}, in presuming to come within | 4. Antje Peters checked the Old
the oracle of knowledge man transgressed | Testament and the New Testament on the
and | fall of the angels:
|
| Jesaja 14, 14
| Das Judentum ist geprägt von der
| antithetisch parallelen Vorstellung
| von Dämonen und Engeln als Schädiger
| bzw. Helfer des Menschen. Sie wird in
| der Erzählung vom Engelfall entfaltet.
|
| Das Buch Jesaja (Jes 14,12ff)14:12
| Ach, du bist vom Himmel gefallen, du
| strahlender Sohn der Morgenröte. Zu
| Boden bist du geschmettert, du
| Bezwinger der Völker.
|
| 14:13 Du aber hattest in deinem
| Herzen gedacht: Ich ersteige den
| Himmel; dort oben stelle ich meinen
| Thron auf, über den Sternen Gottes;
| auf den Berg der (Götter)versammlung
| setze ich mich, im äußersten Norden.
|
| 14:14 Ich steige weit über die Wolken
| hinauf, um dem Höchsten zu gleichen.
|
| 14:15 Doch in die Unterwelt wirst du
| hinabgeworfen, in die äußerste Tiefe.
|
| Im AT gehörte Satan zu den "Söhnen
| Gottes" im himmlischen Hofstaat, wie
| die wohl alte Vorstellung Ijob 1,6
| zeigt.
|
| Das Buch Ijob (Ijob 1,6)1:6 Nun
| geschah es eines Tages, da kamen die
| Gottessöhne, um vor den Herrn
| hinzutreten; unter ihnen kam auch der
| Satan.
|
| Er gilt als Diener Gottes und
| verkörpert eine ursprünglich Gott
| zugeschriebene Funktion.
| Der von dann von Gott abgefallene und
| mit seinem Diener aus dem Himmel
| gestürzte Engelsfürst wird zum Gegner
| Gottes und Verführer der Menschen.
|
| Auch im NT findet der Teufel als ein
| oder der Fürst der gefallenen bösen
| Engel Erwähnung.
|
| Das Evangelium nach Lukas (Lk
| 10,18)10:18 Da sagte er zu ihnen: Ich
| sah den Satan wie einen Blitz vom
| Himmel fallen.
|
| Der zweite Brief an die Korinther (2
| Kor 11,14)11:14 Kein Wunder, denn auch
| der Satan tarnt sich als Engel des
| Lichts.
|
|
| Neben den Bibeltexten wird Bacon auch
| "De Civitate Dei" (Der Gottesstaat)
| von Aurelius Augustinus, dem größten
| lateinischen Kirchenlehrer des
| christlichen Altertums, vorgelegen
| haben, in der das Thema Engelfall
| mehrfach unter verschiedenen
| Gesichtspunkten erwähnt wird.
| So wird im elften Buch die Situation
| der Engel besonders beleuchtet.
|
| Buch XI, 11
| ... Von dieser Erleuchtung haben sich
| gewisse Engel abgewendet und sich die
| Auszeichnung eines weisen und seligen
| Lebens nicht bewahrt, das zweifellos
| nur das ewige, seiner Ewigkeit sichere
| und vergewisserte Leben sein kann. Sie
| besitzen nur noch ein Vernunftleben,
| wenn auch ein einsichtsloses und
| derart, daß sie es, selbst wenn sie
| wollen, nicht verlieren können. ...
|
| Buch XI, 13
| ... Die sündigen Engel, die durch ihre
| Schlechtigkeit jenes Lichtes verlustig
| gingen, haben sie (die
| Glückseligkeit), wie wir schlüssig
| folgern müssen, auch bevor sie fielen,
| nicht gehabt. ...
|
| Buch XI, 19
| ... Denn diese Scheidung (zwischen
| Licht und Finsteris) konnte nur er
| allein treffen, der auch, bevor sie
| fielen, ihren künftigen Fall
| vorauswissen kont, und daß sie, des
| Lichtes der Wahrheit verlustig, im
| finsteren Hochmut verharren würden.
|
| Buch XI, 33
| Daß es aber Engel gibt, die gesündigt
| haben und in die tiefste Tiefe dieser
| Welt verstoßen sind, die ihnen zu
| einer Art von Kerker wurde, darin sie
| bis zur bevorstehenden letzten
| Verurteilung am Tage des Gerichtes zu
| bleiben haben: das offenbart ganz
| deutlich der Apostel Petrus. Er sagt,
| daß Gott die sündigen Engel nicht
| geschont, sondern sie in die finsteren
| Abgründe der Hölle hinabgestoßen hat,
| wo die bis zur Bestrafung im Gerichte
| gefangengehalten werden. ...
| ... Und da ja Gott, wie geschrieben
| steht, "den Stolzen widersteht, den
| Demütigen aber Gnade gibt" (Jak 4,6; 1
| Petr 5,5), wohnt die eine
| (Engelsgenossenschaft) im Himmel der
| Himmel und ist die andre von dort
| hinabgestürzt in diesen untersten
| Lufthimmel, um hier ruhelos in und her
| zu schwirren.
|
| Buch XXII,1
| Gott ist es, der mit dem freiwilligen
| Sturz der Engel die völlig gerechte
| Strafe ewiger Unseligkeit verknüpft
| hat und den übrigen Engeln, die im
| höchsten Gut verblieben sind, als Lohn
| für ihr Verbleiben die Sicherheit
| gewährt hat, daß dieses Verbleiben
| kein Ende haben wird.
|
| Aufgrund dieser Erkenntnisse zieht
| Augustin Parallelen zum Leben der
| Menschen, besonders im 12. Buch:
|
| Buch XII,1
| ... Während die einen standhaft in dem
| allen gemeinsamen Gut, das für sie
| Gott selbst ist, und in seiner
| Ewigkeit, Wahrheit und Liebe
| verharren, sind die anderen, von ihrer
| eigenen Macht berauscht, als wären sie
| sich selbst ihr Gut , vom höheren,
| allen gemeinsamen, beseligenden Gut
| zum eigenen Selbst abgefallen. ...
fell{5}: but in pursuit towards the | 5. Spedding's footnote:This clause is
similitude of God's goodness or love | repeated in the margin, in the
(which is one thing, for love is nothing | transcriber's hand.
else but goodness put in motion or |
applied) neither man or spirit ever |
hath transgressed, or shall transgress.{6} | 6. similarly in: : I.M. Praefatio Sp.
| I,132, 19-22; AL Sp. III, 12 seq.
The angel of light that was, when he | (D.A. Sp. I, 742, 1 9 seq. (footnote
presumed before his fall, said within | taken from the French translation of
himself, I WILL ASCEND AND BE LIKE UNTO | Valerius Terminus by Francois Vert,
| Meridiens Klincksieck, 1986)
THE HIGHEST{7}; not God, but the highest. | 7. Isaiah 14, 14:
To be like to God in goodness, was no part | Authorized Version: I will ascend
of his emulation; knowledge, being in | above the heights of the clouds; I
creation an angel of light, was not the | will be like the most high.
want which did most solicit him; only |
because he was a minister he aimed at a |
supremacy; therefore his climbing or |
ascension was turned into a throwing down |
or precipitation. |
|
Man on the other side, when he was tempted |
before he fell, had offered unto him this |
suggestion, THAT HE SHOULD BE LIKE |
UNTO GOD{8}. But how? Not simply, but in | 8. Genesis 3, 5:
this part, KNOWING GOOD AND EVIL. For | Authorized Version: For God does know
being in his creation invested with | that in the day ye eat thereof, then
sovereignty of all inferior | your eyes shall be opened, and ye
| shall be as gods, knowing good and
| evil.
|
| For Bacon's alleged use of the Geneva
| Bible see Henri Durel-Leon in
| Transactions of the Cambridge
| Bibliographical Society, XI:2 (1997),
| p. 160 and n. 74, modified in the
| direction of AV by, probably, Lancelot
| Andrewes in AL. (Thanks to Dr.
| Leedham-Green)
|
| Geneva Bible: The First Boke of Moses,
| called Genesis, Chap 3,4+5: Then the
| serpent said to the woman, Ye shal not
| dye at all, But God doeth knowe, that
| when ye shall eat thereof, your eyes
| shalbe opened, & ye shalbe as gods
| knowing good and evil. [footnote c: As
| thogh he shulde say, God doeth not
| forbid you to eat of the frute, save
| that he knoweth that if you shulde eat
| thereof, you shulde be like to him]
|
| Authorized Version: And the serpent
| said unto the woman, Ye shall not
| surely die: For God doth know that in
| the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes
| shall be opened, and ye shall be as
| gods, knowing good and evil.
|
| Vulgata: dixit autem serpens ad
| mulierem nequaquam morte moriemini /
| scit enim Deus quod in quocumque die
| comederitis ex eo aperientur oculi
| vestri et eritis sicut dii scientes
| bonum et malum
creatures{9}, he was not needy of power or | 9. Genesis I, 1,26
dominion; but again, being a spirit newly | Geneva Bible: Furthermore God said,
inclosed in a body of earth, he was | Let us make man in our image according
fittest to be allured with appetite of | to our lickeness, and let them rule
light and liberty of knowledge; therefore | over the fish of the sea, and over the
this approaching and intruding into God's | foule of the heaven, and over the
secrets and mysteries was rewarded with a | beastes, & over all the earth, and
further removing and estranging from God's | over everiething that crepeth & moveth
presence. But as to the goodness of God, | on earth.
there is no danger in contending or |
advancing towards a similitude thereof, as | Authorized Version: And God said, Let
that which is open and propounded to our | us make man in our image, after our
imagination. For that voice (whereof the | likeness: and let them have dominion
heathen and all other errors of religion | over the fish of the sea, and over the
have ever confessed that it sounds not | fowl of the air, and over the cattle,
like man), LOVE YOUR ENEMIES; BE YOU LIKE | and over all the earth, and over every
UNTO YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER, THAT SUFFERETH | creeping thing that creepeth upon the
HIS RAIN TO FALL BOTH UPON | earth.
|
| Vulgata: Et ait faciamus hominem ad
| imaginem et similitudinem nostram et
| praesit piscibus maris et volatilibus
| caeli et bestiis universaeque terrae
| omnique reptili quod movetur in terra
THE JUST AND THE UNJUST{10}, doth well | 10. Matthew 5, 44-45
declare, that we can in that point commit | Geneva Bible: Love your enemies...
no excess; so again we find it often | That you may be the children of your
repeated in the old law, BE YOU HOLY AS I | Father that is in heaven: for he
AM | maketh his sunne to arise on the
| evil, and the good, and he sendeth
| raine on the iuste, & unjuste.
|
| Authorized Version: Love your
| enemies:... That you may be the
| children of your father which is in
| heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise
| on the evil and on the good, and
| sendeth rain on the just and on the
| unjust.
| Vulgata: Ego autem dico vobis diligite
| inimicos vestros ... ut sitis filii
| Patris vestri qui in caelis est qui
| solem suum oriri facit super bonos et
| malos et pluit super iustos et
| iniustos.
HOLY{11}; and what is holiness else but | 11. Leviticus 11,44:
goodness, as we consider it separate and | Authorized Version: For I am the Lord
guarded from all mixture and all access of | your God: ye shall therefore sanctify
evil? | yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for
| I am holy: neither shall ye defile
Wherefore seeing that knowledge is of the | yourself with any manner of creeping
number of those things which are to be | thing that creepeth upon the earth.
accepted of with caution and | 1 Peter 1, 16:
|
| Authorized Version: For it is written,
| Be ye holy; for I am holy.
| see also Leviticus 20,7 and 20,26
distinction{12}; being now to open a | 12. cf. A.L. Sp.III, 264, 1.18 (D.A.
fountain, such as it is not easy to | Sp. I, 433, I. 29,30)
discern where the issues and streams |
thereof will take and fall; I thought it |
good and necessary in the first place to |
make a strong and sound head or bank to |
rule and guide the course of the waters; |
by setting down this position or |
firmament{13}, namely, THAT ALL KNOWLEDGE | 13. Melek Hasgün comments:
IS TO BE LIMITED BY RELIGION, AND TO BE | ‘Firmament’ means, apart from the arch
REFERRED | or vault of heaven overhead, in which
| the clouds and the stars appear, in
| the literal etymological sense a firm
| support or foundation. At the
| beginning of his text Bacon sets
| the basis for his further theories.
| According to Bacon it is important not
| to try to find out the secrets and
| mysteries of God or to desire to be
| like God, as was the case in the Fall
| of Man and the Fall of Angels. Thus it
| is forbidden to exceed these limits,
| but to inquire into nature and its
| creatures is legitimate, because God
| has "...let man have dominion over
| (...) all the earth..."(Gen.I, 1,26).
| He maintains that all knowledge is
| limited by religion and by this
| statement he also avoids any suspicion
| on heresy, which could arise because
| of his desire for progress and
| knowledge.
TO USE AND ACTION{14}. | 14. "Ad meritum et usus vitae", Works,
| vol. I, p. 132 ; Italics in order to
For if any man shall think by view and | stress the importance; probably not a
inquiry into these sensible and material | quotation.
things, to attain to any light for the |
revealing of the nature or will of God, he |
shall dangerously abuse himself. It is |
true that the contemplation of the |
creatures of God hath for end (as to the |
natures of the creatures themselves) |
knowledge, but as to the nature of God, no |
knowledge, but wonder; which is nothing |
else but contemplation broken off, or |
losing itself. Nay further, as it was |
aptly said by one of Plato's school THE |
SENSE OF MAN RESEMBLES THE SUN, WHICH |
OPENETH AND REVEALETH THE TERRESTRIAL |
GLOBE, BUT OBSCURETH AND CONCEALETH THE |
CELESTIAL{15}; so doth the sense discover | 15. Philo d'Alexandrie, Des Songes,
natural things, but darken and shut up | Livre I, 83-4 (footnote taken from the
divine. And this appeareth sufficiently in | Vert translation)
that there is no proceeding in invention |
of knowledge but by similitude; and God is |
only self-like, having nothing in common |
with any creature, otherwise than as in |
shadow and trope. Therefore attend his |
will as himself openeth it, and give unto |
faith that which unto faith belongeth{16}; | 16. St. Matthew 22, 21:
for more worthy it is to believe than to | Authorized Version: ... Then saith he
think or know, considering that in | unto them, Render therefore unto
knowledge (as we now are capable of it) | Caesar the things which are Caesar's;
the mind suffereth from inferior natures; | and unto God the things that are
but in all belief it suffereth from a | God's.
spirit which it holdeth superior and |
more authorised than itself.{17} | 17. cf. A.L. Sp. III,478,1.8 sq. (D.A.
| Sp. I, 830, I. 24 seq.
To conclude, the prejudice hath been |
infinite that both divine and human |
knowledge hath received by the |
intermingling and tempering of the one |
with the other; as that which hath filled |
the one full of heresies, and the other |
full of speculative fictions and | 18. similarly: A.L. Sp.III, 350,I.24
Vanities{18}. | seq. (D.A. Sp. I, 545, I.35 swq.)
| John Channing Briggs (""Bacon's
But now there are again which in a | science and religion", in: THE
contrary extremity to those which give to | CAMBRIDGE COMPANION TO BACON, ed. by
contemplation an over-large scope, do | Markku Peltonen, Cambridge 1996)
offer too great a restraint to natural and | comments on Bacon's separation of
lawful knowledge, being unjustly jealous | divinity and natural philosophy
that every reach and depth of knowledge | (quotations in Briggs' text are from
wherewith their conceits have not been | THE ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING):
acquainted, should be too high an |
elevation of man's wit, and a searching | A longstanding commonplace in Bacon
and ravelling too far into God's secrets; | scholarship has been the notion that
an opinion that ariseth either of envy | the Baconian advancement of learning
(which is proud weakness and to be | depends upon a strict separation of
censured and not confuted), or else of a | divinity and natural philosophy. In
deceitful simplicity. For if they mean | a number of memorable passages Bacon
that the ignorance of a second cause doth | indeed warns his readers of the dire
make men more devoutly to depend upon the | consequences of confusing divinity
providence of God, as supposing the | with natural science: to combine
effects to come immediately from his hand, | them, he says, is to confound them.
I demand of them, as Job demanded of his | This is supposedly what Plato and the
friends, WILL YOU LIE FOR GOD AS MAN WILL | scholastics did, and what Bacon
FOR MAN TO | explicitly designs the new learning
| to overcome. Even the acceptable
| hybrid "divine philosophy," when it
| is "commixed together" with natural
| philosophy, leads to "an heretical
| religion, and an imaginary and
| fabulous philosophy" (III, 350).
| According to this emphatic strand of
| Baconian doctrine, religion that
| joins with the study of nature is in
| danger of becoming atheistic, or an
| enthusiastic rival of the true
| church. Natural philosophy that
| traffics unwisely with divinity
| collapses into idolatry or fakery.
|
| Bacon's exemplum of these abuses in a
| modern proto-science is the divine
| philosophy of the Paracelsian school,
| which seeks "the truth of all natural
| philosophy in the Scriptures." The
| Paracelsians mirror and reverse the
| heresies of pagan pantheism by
| seeking what is "dead" (mortal or
| natural) from among the "living"
| (eternal) truths of divinity, when
| "the scope or purpose of the Spirit
| of God is not to express matters of
| nature in the Scriptures, otherwise
| than in passage, and for application
| to man's capacity and to matters
| moral or divine" (ut 485-6). If we
| take Thomas Sprat at his word, the
| Royal Society was founded on
| generally similar principles. The
| first corruption of knowledge, he
| argues, resulted from the Egyptians'
| concealment of wisdom "as sacred
| Mysteries." The current age of
| inquiry benefitted from "the
| dissolution of the ABBYES, whereby
| their Libraries came forth into the
| light, and fell into industrious Mens
| hands." Surrounded by the warring
| forces of contrary religions (the
| society's rooms at Gresham College,
| London, were occupied by soldiers in
| 1658), the founders of the Royal
| Society--according to Sprat's
| account--were "invincibly arm'd" not
| only against scholastic Catholicism,
| but against the "inchantments of
| ENTHUSIASM" and "spiritual Frensies"
| that sometimes characterized the
| Protestant revolutionaries.
|
| In Bacon's project, there is an
| explicit, delineated role for the
| study of divinity, which he carefully
| separates from his own work. Reason
| is at work "in the conception and
| apprehension of the mysteries of God
| to us revealed" and in "the inferring
| and deriving of doctrine and
| direction thereupon" (III, 479). In
| the first instance reason stirs
| itself only to grasp and illustrate
| revelation; it does not inquire. This
| is the foundation of Bacon's
| distinction between true natural
| philosophy, which inquires into the
| world as God's manifestation of his
| GLORY or power, and true theology,
| which piously interprets the
| scripturally revealed meaning of
| God's inscrutable will. The natural
| world declares God's glory but not
| his will (III, 478). Reason's power
| in theology therefore "consisteth of
| probation and argument." lt
| formulates doctrine only insofar as
| God's revelation, largely or wholly
| through Scripture, makes it possible.
| The Lord "doth grift [graft) his
| revelations and holy doctrine upon
| the notions of our reason, and
| applieth his inspirations to open our
| understanding" (III, 480). (pp. 172-
| 173)
GRATIFY HIM?{19} But if any man without | 19. Job 13, 7-9:
any sinister humour doth indeed make doubt | Authorized Version: Will ye speak
that this digging further and further into | wickedly for God? and talk deceitfully
| for him? Will ye accept his person?
| will ye contend for God? Is it good
| that he should search you out? as one
| man mocketh another, do ye so mock
| him?
the mine of natural knowledge{20} is a | 20. This image is also used in A.L. Sp.
thing without example and uncommended in | III, 351, I, 16 where Bacon refers to
the Scriptures, or fruitless; let him | Democritus (Vert's footnote)
remember and be instructed; for behold it |
was not that pure light of natural |
knowledge, whereby man in paradise was |
able to give unto every living creature a |
name according to his propriety{21}, which | 21. Genesis 2,19-20
gave occasion to the fall; but it was an | Geneva Bible: So the Lord God formed
aspiring desire to attain to that part of | of the earth everie beast of the
moral knowledge which defineth of good and | field, and everie foule of the heaven,
evil, whereby to dispute God's | & broght them unto the man to se how
commandments and not to depend upon the | he wolde call them: for howsoever the
revelation of his will, which was the | man named the living creature, so was
original temptation. And the first holy | the name thereof.The man therefore
records, which within those brief | gave names unto all cattle, and to the
memorials of things which passed before | foule of the heaven, and to everie
the flood entered few things as worthy to | beast of the field: but for Adam found
be registered but only | he not an help mete for him.
|
| Authorized Version: And out of the
| ground the Lord God formed every beast
| of the field, and every fowl of the
| air; and brought THEM unto Adam to see
| what he would call them: and
| whatsoever Adam called every living
| creature, that WAS the name thereof.
| And Adam gave names to all cattle, and
| to the fowl of the air, and to every
| beast of the field; but for Adam there
| was not found an help meet for him.
|
| Vulgata:Igitur Dominus Deus de humo
| cunctis animantibus terrae et
| universis volatilibus caeli adduxit ea
| ad Adam ut videret quid vocaret ea /
| omne enim quod vovavit Adam animae
| viventis ipsum est nomen eius /
| appelavitque Adam nominibus suis
| cuncat animantia / et universa
| volatilia et omnes bestias terrae /
| Adam vero non inveniebatur adiutor
| similis eius
lineages{22} and propagations, yet | 22. Spedding's footnote: LINAGES in
nevertheless honour the remembrance | original. See note 3, p. 148
of the inventor both of music{23} and | 23. Genesis 4,21:
| Authorized Version: And his brother's
| name was Jubal: he was the father of
| all such as handle the harp and organ.
|
| Vulgata: et nomen fratris eius Iuabal
| ipse fuit pater canentium cithara et
| organo
works in metal{24}. Moses again (who was | 24. Genesis, 4,22:
the reporter) is said to have been seen in | Authorized Version: And Zillah, she
all | also bare Tubalcain, an instructor of
| every artificer in brass and iron...
|
| Vulgata: Sella quoque genuit
| Thubalcain qui fuitmalleator et faber
| in cuncta opera aeris et ferri...
the Egyptian learning{25}, which nation | 25. The Acts 7,22:
was early and leading in matter of | Authorized Version: And Moses was
| learned in all the wisdom of the
| Egyptians, and was mighty in words and
| deeds.
knowledge. And Salomon the king,{26} as | 26. cf. A.L. Sp.III, 298,I.38; N.A. Sp.
out of a branch of his wisdom | III, 145, I seq.
extraordinarily petitioned and granted |
from God, is said to have written a |
natural history of all that is green from |
the cedar to the moss{27}, (which is but a | 27. 1 Kings 4, 29-34
rudiment between putrefaction and | Geneva Bible: And God gave Salomon
| wisdome, und understanding exceeding
| muche, and a large heart, even as the
| sand that is on the sea shore. And
| Salomons wisdome excelled the wisdome
| of all the children of the East and
| all the wisdome of Egypt. For he was
| wiser than anie man.... and he was
| famous throughout all nacions rounde
| about. And Salomon spake thre thousand
| proverbes: and his songs were a
| thousand and five. And he spake of
| trees, from the cedar tre that is in
| Lebanon, even unto the hyssope that
| springeth out of the wall: he spake
| also of beastes, and of foules, and of
| creping things, and of fishes. And
| there came all the people to heare the
| wisdome of Salomon, from all Kings of
| the earth, which had heard of his
| wisdome.
|
| Authorized Version:And God gave
| Salomon wisdom and understanding
| exceeding much, and largeness of
| heart, even as the sand that is on the
| sea shore. And Salomon's wisdom
| excelled the wisdom of all the
| children of the east country, and all
| the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser
| than all men...and his fame was in all
| nations round about. And he spake
| three thousands proverbs; and his
| songs were a thousand and five. And he
| spake of trees, from the cedar tree
| that is in Lebanon even unto the
| hyssop that springeth out of the wall:
| he spake also of beasts, and of fowl,
| and of creeping things, and of fishes.
| And there came all people to hear the
| wisdom of Salomon. From all kings of
| the earth, which had heard of his
| wisdom.
|
| Vulgata: Liber Malachim 4, 29-34:
| Dedit quoque Deus sapientiam Salomoni
| et prudentiam multam nimis et
| latitudinem cordis quasi harenam quae
| est in litore maris / et praecedebat
| sapientia Salomonis sapientiam omnium
| orientalium et Aegyoptorum / et erat
| sapientia cunctis hominibus.. Et erat
| nominatus inuniversis gentibus per
| cicuitum / locutus est quoque Salomon
| tria milia parabolas et fuerunt
| carmina eius quinque et mille / et
| disputavit super lignis a cedro quae
| est in Libano usque ad hysopum quae
| egreditur de pariete et disseuit de
| iumentis et volucribus et reptilibus
| et piscibus / et veniebant de cunctis
| populis ad audiendam sapientiam
| Salomonis et ab universis regibus
| terrae qui audiebant sapientiam eius
|
| Luther Bible: 1. Könige 5, 9-14
|
| Melek Hasgün comments: The hyssop is
| mentioned in Shakespeare’s OTHELLO
| I,3: "Sow lettuce, set hyssop and
| weed up thyme". Hyssop and thyme were
| believed to aid the growth of each
| other, one being moist and the other
| dry. The reason why Bacon used moss
| instead of hyssop could be that moss
| is also a moist plant and he chose an
| expression which is more general or
| known.
an herb{28},) and also of all that liveth | 28. The plant mentioned in the Bible is
and moveth. And if the book of Job be | not "moss", but HYSOPPUS OFFICINALIS
turned over; it will be found to have much | [in German: JOSEFSKRAUT, KIRCHENSEPPL,
aspersion of natural | EISOP, YSOP)]. "The Greek plant name
| HÝSSOOPOS is probably derived from
| Hebrew ESOB (mentioned in the
| Bible...), although it is not clear
| whether ESOB referred to the plant
| called hyssop today. Another
| explanation gives Arabic AZZOF "holy
| herb" as the source of the name (cf.
| French HERBE SACRÉ) (Gernot Katzer
| Website on Spices). Gernot Katzer in
| his entry on the pomegranate
| (http://www-
| ang.kfunigraz.ac.at/~katzer/germ/index
| .html) considers the problem of the
| names of plants in the Bible:
|
| "The pomegranate tree is an ancient
| cultigen in Western Asia; it is
| mentioned in the oldest part of the
| Old Testament (the Pentateuch).
| Although the Old Testament is not a
| collection of cooking recipes, it
| names many plants of everyday or
| cultic usage in ancient Israel; the
| New Testament, though, has less
| descriptive character, and plants are,
| consequently, named much less
| frequently.
|
| If one wants to set up a "collection
| of biblical spices", one must not
| forget that there are three millennia
| between the language of the Old
| Testament and ours; therefore, exact
| translations are sometimes impossible.
| The following quote (Isaiah 28,27) may
| illustrate the difficulties of
| translation:
|
| 'QETSACH is not threshed with a
| sledge, nor is a cartwheel rolled over
| KAMMON; QETSACH is beaten out with a
| rod, and KAMMON with a stick.'
|
| Because of the dialectic structure, we
| may infer that the two plants are
| similar, but differ in details of
| their harvest. The term KAMMON
| obviously is related to Greek KÝMINON
| (cumin), but also lies behind English
| CARAWAY; QETSACH is more difficult to
| analyze. Probably it means NIGELLA,
| sometimes also called BLACK CUMIN,
| whose seeds ripen in a closed capsule,
| which must first be opened.
|
| Yet in translating the Bible, botanic
| accuracy is less an aim than general
| matters of style. "Black cumin" is
| less elegant than "cumin", and
| "nigella" is not an English word at
| all. Therefore, English Bible
| translations render QETSACH as DILL,
| CARAWAY or "fitches", a word that is
| missing from every modern dictionary.
| German translators, on the other hand,
| who don't have a traditional, elegant
| word for CUMIN, commonly translate
| KAMMON as CARAWAY (which is almost
| certainly wrong), and have to resort
| to DILL for QETSACH.
|
| Comparing different translations of
| the Old Testament, one find some or
| all of the following (Hebrew terms are
| given in parenthesis): garlic (shuwm),
| onion (b@tsel), nigella (qetsach, also
| rendered as caraway oder dill, quite
| obscure), cumin (kammon, also
| caraway), coriander (gad), caper
| (abiyownah, also translated "desire"),
| cinnamon (qinnamown), cassia (qiddah,
| also interpreted as a synonym of
| cinnamon or cassia buds), hyssop
| (ezowb, frequent but very obscure),
| myrtle (hadac), olive (shemen and
| zayith, very frequent), juniper
| (b@rowsh, also given as "fir" or
| "pine"), almond (shaqed), pomegranate
| (rimmown or rimmon), rose
| (chabatstseleth, very obscure) and
| saffron (karkom).
|
| Similarly, the New Testament has not
| been translated by biologists--the
| latter had not suspected birds to live
| in mustard plants (sínapi). Other
| plant names from the New Testament
| include the following (Greek given in
| parenthesis): mint (heedýosmon, this
| is not the common name of mint in
| Greek), cumin (kýminon, also
| translated caraway), anis (áneethon,
| also rendered dill), rue (peéganon,
| not the common term), cinnamon
| (kinnámoomon), hyssop (hýssoopos,
| referring to the obscure word in the
| Old Testament) and olive (agriélaios
| "olive tree" and elaíon "olive oil").
|
| The DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE (ed. by
| James Hastings and John A. Selbie,
| Edinburgh, 3rd ed.1914) says about the
| HYSSOP: "It was used for sprinkling
| blood (Ex. 12,22) and in the ritual of
| the cleansing of lepers (Lv 14,4, Nu
| 19,6); it was an insignificant plant
| growing out of the wall (1 K 4,33); it
| could afford a branch strong enough to
| support a wet sponge (Jn 19,29). It is
| possible that all these references are
| not to a single species. Among many
| suggested plants the most probable is
| either a species of majoran, e.g.,
| ORIGANUM MARU, or the common caper-
| plant (CAPPARIS SPINOSA), which may be
| seen growing out of crevices in walls
| all over Palestine" (E.W.G.Masterman).
|
| For the German traditions about the
| hyssop Jacob and Wilhem Grimm in
| DEUTSCHES WÖRTERBUCH (1854 seq.) give
| the following information:
| YSOP, isop, ispe(n), eisop; hysop, m.
| (F.),HYSSOPUS OFFICINALIS L., KLEINER
| BUSCH MIT STARK DUFTENDEN BLÄTTERN und
| VIOLETTEN BLÜTEN. GELEGENTLICH WIRD
| DER NAME AUF VERWANDTE PFLANZEN
| ÜBERTRAGEN, VOR ALLEM AUF SATUREJA
| HORTENSIS L., VGL. MARZELL WB. D. DT.
| PFLANZENN. 2, 966 ff.; PRITZEL-JESSEN
| PFLANZEN (1882) 363 f.; FISCHER
| SCHWÄB. 4, 53.
|
| HERKUNFT UND form.
|
| ASS. zûpu; SYR.-ARAB. züfä; HEBR. .;
| GRIECH. ; ; LAT. hyss_pus F., hyss_pum
| N.; GOT. hwssopon (DAT. SG.); AGS.
| ysope f.; AHD. hysop ST. M. NEBEN
| SPÄTEREM ISOPO, isipo 5W. M.; MHD.
| ysope M. (NOCH BEI LUTHER MEIST
| SCHWACH FLEKTIERT: EXOD. 12, 22;
| LEVIT. 14, 52; PS. 51, 9; HEBR. 9,
| 19); SPÄTAHD.-FRÜHNHD. AUCH ALS FEM.
| (YSOPUS îspa [12. JH.] AH. GL. 3, 264,
| 53 ST.-S.; DE ISOPO von der ispen
| [12.JH.] EBDA 4, 365, 46; von der
| ispen [UM 1350] KONRAD V. MEGENBEEG
| BUCH D. NATUR 405 PF.; VGL. 420;
| yspen, die nit felt LIEDERBUCH D.
| HÄTZLERIN 234 HALTAUS). NHD. (h)ysop,
| isop, WEITERES S.U.
|
| AUF DER BIBELSPRACHLICHEN TRADITION
| (1) UND AUF DER FRÜHEN EINFÜHRUNG DES
| ORIENTALISCH-SÜDEUROPÄISCHEN YSOPS ALS
| HEIL- UND GEWÜRZPFLANZE (2) BERUHT
| SEINE REICHE BEZEUGUNG IN NAHEZU
| ALLEN EUROPÄISCHEN SPRACHEN. NEUER-
| DINGS WIRD DIE IDENTITÄT DES
| BIBLISCHEN ysop MIT HYSSOPUS
| OF/ICINALIS WIEDER BEZWEIFELT MARZELL
| A. A. 0. (ZUR DISKUSSION UM JOAN. 19,
| 29 VGL. BAUER GRIECH.-DT. WB. ZUM
| NEUEN TESTAM. [4 1952] 1541). DER NAME
| ERSCHEINT BIBEL-SPRACHLICH DURCHWEG
| ALS MASK., GELEGENTLICH BIS INS 14.
| JH. IN LAT. FLEXIONSFORM (S. U.
| DAT. SG. isupo NOTKER, ysopo TRIERER
| PS., ysopo PASSIONAL; AKK. SG.. ysopum
| WERNHER MARIENLEBEN) UND AUCH SPÄTER
| NOCH MIT SPIRANTISCHEM ANLAUT: hyssop
| ABR. A S. CLARA etw. f. alle (1699) 1,
| 98; hysop BRENNER ERZ. U. SCHR. (1864)
| 1, 20; hyssop TILLMANN NEUES TEST.
| (LPZ. 6 1958) 625. WEITER
| EINGEDEUTSCHT IST DAS WORT IN SEINER
| VOLKSSPRACHLICHEN VERWENDUNG (2):
| SYNKOPE DES MITTELSILBENVOKALS S.. OB.
| SOWIE isp (12. JH.) AHD. GL. 4, 235,
| 38 ST.-S.; yspe (14. JH.) EBDA 3, 542,
| 25; ispe (U. Ä.) 14./16. JH.
| DIEFENBACH GL. 310b ; isp(e) FISCHER
| SCHWÄB. 4, 53 (STÄRKER ABWEICHENDE
| MISCHFORMEN zispe EBDA, zwispe 6,
| 1472), SCHMELLER-FR. BAYER. 1, 168.
| NICHT SELTEN DIPHTHONGIERT
| garteneisop, zwibeleisop ALBERTUS
| dict. (1540) FF la ; eisop FÄBRICUS
| RER. MISNIAC. (1569) 246; eysopwein
| ZEHNER NOMENCL. (1643) 365; eisop M.
| BÖHME VIEHARTZNEY (1682) 31. DIE
| ZAHLREICHEN MUNDARTLICHEN NEBENFORMEN
| S. IM ÜBRIGEN BEI MARZELL A. A. O.;
| VGL. NOCH eisop TEIL 3, SP. 380,
| eisewig 3, 377, hispe F., 4, 2, 1579
| SOWIE isop 4, 2, 2182.
|
| GEBRAUCH.
| 1)BIBELSPRACHLICH. EXOD. 12, 22;
| LEVIT. 14, 4 U. 6; 14, 49fl.; num. 19,
| 6 u. 18; PS. 50 9 U. HEBR. 9, 19
| ERWÄHNEN DEN YSOP IM ZUSAMMENHANG
| KULTISCHER REINIGUNGSZEREMONIEN. 3.
| REG. 4, 33 DIENT ER EINEM VERGLEICH
| ZUR VERANSCHAUIICHUNG DER WEISHEIT
| SALOMOS (S.U.). JOAN. 19, 29 WIRD DEM
| GEKREUZIGTEN DER ESSIGSCHWAMM UM EINEN
| YSOP GEWICKELT GEREICHT (HIERZU VGL.
| BAUER GRIECH.-DT. WB. ZUM NEUEN
| TESTAM. [4 1952] 1541). AN DIESEN
| STELLEN IST DAS WORT IN ALLEN
| DEUTSCHEN BIBELÜBERSETZUNGEN BIS IN
| DIE GEGENWART IN FESTEM GEBRAUCH:
| afaruh þan ÞO in wato wairpandans
| hrain jah hwssopon jah wullai raudai
| ufartrusnjandans (SKEIREINS 3, 16)
| GOT. BIBEL 21 , 461 STREITBERG;
| FASCICULUM HYSOPI uuadal hysopes
| (EXODUS 12, 22) (8./9. JH.) AHD. GL.
| 1, 335, 38 ST.-S.; so er chumet, so
| besprenget er mih mit isopo (ASPERGES
| ME YSOPO, PS. 50, 9) also die
| miselsuhtigen, unde danne uuirdo ih
| gereinet; uuunda so ist gepoten in
| demo puoche, daz die miselsuhtigen
| siben stunt besprenget uurten mit
| gedunchetemo isopo in demo opferpluote
| (VGL. LEV. 14, 4ff.; 49ff.) NOTKER 3,
| 172 PIPER (VGL. 2, 195f.); du
| besprenges mih, herro, mit dem isipen
| unde ih wirde gereinet (12. JH.,
| WINDBERGER INTERLINEARVERSION), du
| solt besprengen mich mit demo ysopo
| unde ih wirde gereinet (13. JH.,
| TRIERER INTERLINEARVERSION) (PS. 50,
| 9) DT. INTERLINEARVERSIONEN D. PSALMEN
| (1839) 232 GRAFF; wann sy fulten ein
| schwamp mit essig sy vmbgaben in mit
| ysopp: sy brachten in seinen mund
| (JOAN. 19, 29) ERSTE DT. BIBEL 1, 415
| KURR.; vnd er (SALOMO) redet
| dreytausent spruch, vnd seyner liede
| waren tausent vnd funffe. vnd er redet
| von bewmen, vom ceder an zu Libanon
| bis an den isop, der aus der wand
| wechst (3. REG. 4, 33) LUTHER DT.
| BIBEL 1, 150 W., VGL. 9, 1, 408f. AUS
| BIBELSPRACHLICHER TRADITION ERWACHSEN
| FOLGENDE BELEGE, ZU PS. 50, 8:
|
| Maria sunderinne,
| du bist in gutem sinne
| vf einen burnen alda kumen
| ...
| betouche dich zv male
| des du macht Immer wesen vro
| der besprenget dich mit ysopo
| des bistu wiz ob alleme sne
| (UM 1300) PASSIONAL 371, 22 HAHN;
|
| nun spreng mich herr mit ysop gut,
| so wird all sünd verderbet
| SPEE GÜLD. TUGENDBUCH (1649) 35;
|
| und so, meint der meister ferner,
| werde ich auch bald gewaschen werden,
| und mit hysop besprengt, der ich über
| so viele das miserere gesungen BRENNER
| ERZ. U. SCHR. (1864) 1, 20. ZU JOAN.
| 19, 29:
|
| 'mich durstet', sprach er och dar na.
| do stûnd ain vas mit essich da,
| dar in lait ainer ysopum
| und fuitent sin ainen schwum:
| den bot er zû der selben stunt
| mit ainem sper an sinen munt
| (HS. 1182) WERNHER MARIENIEBEN
| 10 607 PÄPKE-HÜBNER.
|
| IN NEGATIVIERENDER UMDEUTUNG DER
| HILFREICHEN TRÄNKUNG AUS JOAN. 19, 29
| (VGL. MATTH. 27, 34): wie . . dem
| volk...der ysop der furcht vor den
| ewigen strafen dargereicht würde
| SCHLEIERMACHER S. W. (1834) 1 5, 98;
|
| nur gift und galle war, o pabst,
| was du vom pol bis zu den tropen
| der welt mit deinem scepter gabst,
| mit deinem scepter von ysopen
| HERWEGH GED. E. LEBENDIGEN (21841) 116.
|
| ZU 3. REG. 4, 31 von der zeder bis zum
| ysop (S 0. LUTHERS ÜBERSETZUNG),
| ZUNÄCHST NUR VON DER GRÖSZE DER
| WEISHEIT SALOMOS: Salomon ... von dem
| ceder baum, so auf dem berg Libano
| ist, bisz auf den hyssop, so aus der
| wand wächst, disputieret ABR. A S.
| CLARA ETWAS F. ALLE (1699) 1, 48;
| (ÜBERSCHRIFT:) Salomons königs van
| Israel und Juda güldne worte von der
| ceder biss zum issop GÖTHE 1 37, 295
| W.; AUF ANDERE PERSONEN ÜBERTRAGEN:
| weil du (RÜBEZAHL) aber der kräuter
| und pflanzen kundig bist, vom ysop an,
| der auf der mauer wächst, bis auf die
| ceder zu Libanon MUSÄUS VOLKSMÄRCHEN
| 1, 34 HEMPEL, VGL. DERS., PHYSIOGN.
| REISEN (1778) 1, 171; ich habe die
| ehre, ihnen einen gelehrten zu
| präsentieren, dar alles weiss und
| kennt, van der ceder bis zum ysop
| KOTZEBUE SÄMMTL. DRAM. W. (1827) 1,
| 314. SCHLIESZLICH DIE WEITE DER
| SCHÖPFUNG ÜBERHAUPT BEZEICHNEND: jedes
| gewäche von der ceder bis zum ysop
| hängt an erde und sonnenschein HERDER
| 20, 73 S.; VGL. 22, 237; der nahme
| meines helden ist kurz und gut: ABC
| bis XYZ, ... ritter vieler orden
| trauriger und fröhlicher gestalt, von
| der ceder auf Libanon bis zum ysop
| HIPPEL KREUZ- U. QUERZUGC (1793) 1, 3;
| die menschengattung ist die erste von
| alless diesen einheiten; die andern,
| vom elephanten bis zur milbe, von der
| ceder bis an den ysop, sind in dar
| zweiten und dritten linie J. G.
| FORSTER S. SCHR. (1843) 4, 319.
|
| 2) ALS GEWÜRZ- UND HEIL PFLANZE. IN
| DEN VERSCHIEDENSTEN REZEPTEN SEIT DEM
| 11./12. JH. SEHR REICH BEZEUGT; DIE
| BLÄTTER WERDEN VEREINZELT BIS IN DIE
| GEGENWART ALS SOSZENWÜRZE UND ZUM
| GURGELN GEGEN HALSBESCHWERDEN BENUTZT;
| DARÜBER HINAUS IST DIE PFLANZE 'VOR
| ALLEM IN DER SCHWEIZ EIN BESTANDTEIL
| DER IN DIE KIRCHE (BESONDERS VON
| ÄLTEREN FRAUEN) MITGENOMMENEN
| RIECHSTRÄUSZLEIN' MARZELL WB. D.
| DT. PFLANZENN. 2, 069: isopo ist g_t
| chrût, obe diu geb_rt stirbet in demo
| wîbe; trinche iz mit warmem wazzer, SÔ
| vert iz vone ire. er ist g_t vur den
| stenken vnte hilfet och den der mage
| swirt (11./12. JH.) GERMANIA 8, 300;
| ÄHNLICH (13. JH.) MENHARDT VERZ. D.
| ALTDT. LIT. HSS. 1 (1960) 46; von der
| ispen. isopus haizt isp...wenn man
| ispen kocht mit honig, daz ist der
| lungel guot . und genuog ander
| tugent hât si an ir (UM 1350) KONRAD
| V. MEGENBERG BUCH der NATUR 405 PF.;
| vgl 420; der ysope . . . ist bitter
| und idoch ges_nt dem herzen und der
| I_ngen und der br_st die da siech ist
| (14 JH.) ALTDT.PRED.
|
| SCHÖNBACH SO WEME dat hoven sweret . .
| de scal nemen eyn bunt ysopen unde
| seden de (Bremen 1352) »MND. ARZNEIB.
| des A. DONELDEY 14 Windler vgl. 3, 10,
| 19, 26, 49; und alz ist gefügett daz
| pinlin z.B. dem honge, der ysop z.B. dem
| balsam, dú nahtegal z.B. der harpfen (so
| wie DIE seele ZU CHRISTUS) (HS. von
| 1357 NACH VORLAGE VON 1303) , ST.
| GEORGENER PRED. 287 RIEDER, VGL. 294;
|
| saluay, rawtten vnd polay,
| der krautt stünd pogen vnd
| gezindelt;
| dryment, yspen, die nit felt,
| grunten da in reicher wunn
| LIEDERBUCH DER HÄTZLERIN
| 234 HALTAUS:
|
| dem rind den husten zu vertreiben,
| pflegt man jnen...ysop.. .einzugeben
| SEBIZ feldbau (1579) 128;
| mit lavendel, isop, majoran, poley und
| anderen geringeres wehrtes, gewächsen
| und blurnenwerke ausgeziehret NEUMARK
| newspross. teut. palmb. (1668) 171;
| unter wild wachsenden pflanzen sah ich
| die dunkelrote scabiose unter gärten
| und ein ganzes feld mit ysop bewachsen
| STOLBERG
| GES.W. (1820) 8, 360.
|
| 3) ZU BEIDEN ANWENDUNGSGRUPPEN
| STELLEN SICH ZUSAMMENSETZUNGEN:
| ysopbitter:
|
| dieweil der königliche zecher
| umsonst nach ihren zügen gafft.
| leert sie den ysopbittren becher
| zurückgewiesener leidenschaft
| FONTANE GED. 7176 (VGL..
| JOAN. 19, 29 u. ysop 1);
|
| --busch:
|
| nimm einen ysoppusch,
| entsündige mein Leben
| FLEMING, dt. ged. 1,8
| lit.ver.;
|
| VGL. ysopbüschel (NURN. 19, 18)
| ZÜRCHER BIBEL (BERLIN 1956) 1, 165; -
| kraut: nimm rosinlin ein
| handvoll...salbeyblätter, hissopkraut,
| jedes 1 hand voll GÄBELKOVER ARTZNCYB.
| (1595) 1, 182; -saft: ysop safft
| getruncken mit oximel, waychet den
| verstopften bauch DAS KREÜTERBUCH OD.
| HERBARIOS (AUGSB. 1534) 144b ; -sirup:
| \STAUB-TOBLER 7, 1270; -stengel: sie
| steckten nun einen mit essig gefüllten
| schwamm auf einen ysopstengel (JOAN
| 19,29). ZÜRCHER BIBEL (BERLIN 1956)
| 2,148; hysopstengel (J. 19,29)
| TILLMANN NEUES TESTAM. (LPZ. 6-1959)
| 325; -strauch,
| s. isopstrauch TEIL 4,2, SP. 2182; -
| wasser: hysopwasser soll man allwegen
| in heysser aeschen disti1liren:
| welches (U. A.) trefflich gut für den
| grausamen schmertzen der zän ist SEBIZ
| feldbau (1580) 413; zerschmeltz den
| zucker in brandlattich oder
| issopwasser GÄBELKOVER artzneybuch
| (1595) 1, 193, GEBUCHT bei RÄDLEIN T.-
| IT.-FRZ.(1711) 1080;b; -wein, . VGL.
| isopwein TEIL 4. 2. sp. 2182 SOWIE:
| von ysopwein. ysopwein ist warm,
| reiniget die brust, machet gute däwung
| vnd weicht den bauch M. HERR FELDBAU
| (1551) 112a; eysop wein ZEHNER
| NOMENCL. (1645) 365; KIRSCH CORNU
| COPIAE 2 (1775), 908.
|
| Why then did Bacon translate "hyssop"
| as "moss"? The hyssop was known and
| used in England (compare OED; e.g.
| Skakespeare OTHELLO I,3 etc.). What
| appears from all the dictionaries
| consulted is, however, that it is not
| so very clear which plant was meant by
| the name. What led Bacon to use the
| word "moss" for "hyssop" is probably
| the sense of 1 K 4,33: Salomon knows
| every plant from the noblest (=cedar
| tree) to the meanest (=hyssop), "moss"
| obviously signifying a mean plant
| "which is but a rudiment between
| putrefaction and an herb". This does
| obviously leave out of consideration
| the holiness of the hyssop tested in
| various other contexts of the Old and
| the New Testament (see above).
philosophy{29}. Nay, the same Salomon the | 29. cf. A.L. Sp. III, 298, I.5 (D.A.
king affirmeth directly that the glory of | Sp.I,467, I.1) ; Cf. also N.O. I, 65
God IS TO CONCEAL A THING, BUT THE GLORY |
OF THE KING IS TO FIND IT OUT{30}, as if | 30. Proverbs 25,2
according to the innocent play of children | Geneva Bible: The glorie of God is to
the divine Majesty took delight to hide | conceile a thing secret: but the Kings
his works, to the end to have them found | honour is to searche out a thing.
out; for in naming the king he intendeth |
man, taking such a condition of man as | Authorized Version: It is the glory of
hath most excellency and greatest | God to conceal a thing: but the honour
commandment of wits and means, alluding | of kings is to search out a matter.
also to his own person, being truly one of |
those clearest burning lamps, whereof | Vulgata: Gloria Dei celare verbum et
himself speaketh in another place, when he | gloria regum investigare sermonem
saith THE SPIRIT OF MAN IS AS THE LAMP OF |
GOD, WHEREWITH HE SEARCHETH ALL |
INWARDNESS{31}; which nature of the soul | 31. Proverbs 20,27
the same Salomon holding precious and | Geneva Bible: The light of the Lord is
inestimable, and therein conspiring with | the breth of man, and sercheth all the
the affection of Socrates who scorned the | bowels of the bellie.
pretended learned men of his time for | Authorized Version: The spirit of man
raising great benefit of their learning | is the candle of the Lord,searching
(whereas Anaxagoras contrariwise and | all the inward parts of the belly.
divers others being born to ample | Vulgata: lucerna Dominis spiraculum
patrimonies decayed them in | homninis quae investigat omnia secreta
| ventris
| Luther: Eine Leuchte des Herrn ist des
| Menschen Geist; die geht durch alle
| Kammern des Leibes.
contemplation){32}, delivereth it in | 32. see Platon, Hippias Major. 282 b -
precept yet remaining, BUY THE TRUTH, AND | 283 b
SELL IT NOT; |
AND SO OF WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE{33}. | 33. Proverbs 23, 23
| Geneva Bible: Bye the trueth, but sel
And lest any man should retain a scruple | it not: likewise wisdome, and
as if this thirst of | instruction, and understanding.
knowledge were rather an humour of the |
mind than an emptiness or want in nature | Authorized Version: Buy the truth and
and an instinct from God, the same author | sell it not; also wisdom, and
defineth of it fully, saying, GOD HATH | instruction, and understanding.
MADE EVERY THING IN BEAUTY ACCORDING TO |
SEASON; ALSO HE HATH SET THE WORLD IN | Vulgata: veritatem eme et noli vendere
MAN'S HEART, YET CAN HE NOT FIND OUT THE | sapientiam et doctrinam et
WORK WHICH GOD WORKETH FROM THE | intelligentiam
|
| Luther: Kaufe Wahrheit und verkaufe
| sie nicht, Weisheit, Zucht und
| Verstand.
|
| on the mercantilist spirit in Bacon
| see: Julie Robin Salomon, Objectivity
| in the Making. The John Hopkins
| University Press, 1998.
BEGINNING TO THE END{34}: declaring not | 34. Ecclesiastes 3,11
obscurely that God hath framed the mind of | Authorized Version: He hath made every
man as a glass capable of the image of the | thing beautiful in his time: also he
universal world, joying to receive the | hath set the world in their heart, so
signature thereof as the eye is of light | that no man can find out the work that
yea not only satisfied in beholding the | God maketh from the beginning to the
variety of things and vicissitude of | end.
times, but raised also to find out and |
discern those ordinances and decrees which | Vulgata: cuncta fecit bona in tempore
throughout all these changes are | suo et mundum tradidit disputioni
infallibly observed. And although the | eorum / ut non inveniat homo opus quod
highest generality of motion or summary | operatus est Deus ab initio usque ad
law of nature God should still reserve | finem.
within his own curtain, yet many and noble |
are the inferior and secondary operations | Luther Bible: Prediger Salomo 3,11:
which are within man's sounding. This is a | Er aber tut alles fein zu seiner Zeit
thing which I cannot tell whether I may so | und läßt ihr Herz sich ängstigen, wie
plainly speak as truly conceive, that as | es gehen solle in der Welt; denn der
all knowledge appeareth to be a plant of | Mensch kann doch nicht treffen das
God's own planting, so it may seem the | Werk, das Gott tut, weder Anfang noch
spreading and flourishing or at least the | Ende.
bearing and fructifying of this plant, by |
a providence of God, nay not only by a |
general providence but by a special |
prophecy, was appointed to this autumn |
of the world{35}: for to my understanding | 35. Melek Hasgün comments: Bacon sees
it is not violent to the letter, and safe | his time as "...autumn of the
now after the event, so to interpret that | world...". As in Shakespeare’s King
place in the prophecy of Daniel where | Lear (IV/6) ‘autumn’ implies the time
speaking of the latter times it is said, | shortly before the end of the world,
MANY SHALL PASS TO AND FRO, AND SCIENCE | this can also be applied to Bacon. The
| Apocalypse is preceded by the increase
| of knowledge (Daniel 12,4) and again
| Bacon uses the Bible to legitimate
| progress in science.
SHALL BE INCREASED{36}; as if the opening | 36. Daniel 12, 4;
of the world by navigation and commerce | Geneva Bible: But thou, o Daniel, shut
and the further discovery of knowledge | up the wordes, and seale the boke til
should meet in one time or age. | the end of the time: many shal runne
| to and fro, and knowledge shalbe
But howsoever that be, there are besides | increased [explanation f ("til the end
the authorities or Scriptures before | of the time"): Til the time that God
recited, two reasons of exceeding great | hathe appointed for the ful revelation
weight and force why religion should | of these things: and then many shal
dearly protect all increase of natural | runne to and fro to search the
knowledge: the one, because it leadeth to | knowledge of these mysteries, which
the greater exaltation of the glory of | things they obteine now by the light
God; for as the | of the Gospel]
|
| Authorized Version: But thou, O
| Daniel, shut up the words, and seal
| the book, EVEN to the time of the end:
| many shall run to and fro, and
| knowledge shall be increased.
|
| Vulgata: Tu autem Danihel clude
| sermones et signa librum usque ad
| tempus statutum / pertransibunt
| plurimi et multiplex erit scientia
|
| This quotation is repeated on the
| title page of NOVUM ORGANUM. Together
| with the allegorical content of the
| pillars of Hercules, this passage
| clearly is to be interpreted in an
| apocalyptical sense: The time has come
| and is ripe for a re-construction of
| Adams's paradisical dominion over the
| world.--The pillars of Hercules can
| also be understood as a typological
| allusion to the two pillars of
| Salomo's temple (cf. Charles Whitney):
| In 1 Kings 7, 21 the names of the
| pillars are given as "Jachin" and
| "Boas". The Jew's name in NOVA
| ATLANTIS, Joabin, can be explained as
| the result of playing around with
| these names and contracting them into
| one. In NOVA ATLANTIS Salomo's Temple
| is resurrected and is the centre of
| knowledge and power.
Psalms{37} and other Scriptures do often | 37. for example Psalms 19,1
invite us to consider and to magnify the |
great and wonderful works of God, so if we |
should rest only in the contemplation of |
those shews which first offer themselves |
to our senses, we should do a like injury |
to the majesty of God, as if we should |
judge of the store of some excellent |
jeweller by that only which is set out to |
the street in his shop. The other reason |
is, because it is a singular help and a |
preservative against unbelief and error; |
for, saith our Saviour, YOU ERR, NOT |
KNOWING THE SCRIPTURES NOR THE |
POWER OF GOD;{38} laying before us two | 38. St. Matthew 22, 29:
books or volumes to study if we will be | Authorized Version: Jesus answered and
secured from error; first the Scriptures | said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing
revealing the will of God, and then the | the Scriptures, not the power of God.
creatures expressing his power; for that | see also St Mark 12, 24
latter book will certify us that nothing |
which the first teacheth shall be thought |
impossible. And most sure it is, and a |
true conclusion of experience, that a |
little natural philosophy inclineth the |
mind to atheism, but a further proceeding |
bringeth the mind back to religion. |
|
To conclude then, let no man presume to |
check the liberality of God's gifts, who, |
as was said, |
HATH SET THE WORLD IN MAN'S HEART. So |
as whatsoever is not God but parcel of the |
world, he hath fitted it to the |
comprehension of man's mind, if man will |
open and dilate the powers of |
his understanding as he may.{39} | 39. Compare to "mind of glass" above
|
But yet evermore it must be remembered |
that the least part of knowledge passed to |
man by this so large a charter from God |
must be subject to that use for which God |
hath granted it; which is the benefit and |
relief of the state and society or man; |
for otherwise all manner of knowledge |
becometh malign and serpentine, and |
therefore as carrying the quality of the |
serpent's sting and malice it maketh the |
mind of man to swell; as the Scripture |
saith excellently, KNOWLEDGE BLOWETH UP, |
BUT CHARITY BUILDETH UP{40}. And again the | 40. 1 Corinthians 8, 1
same author doth notably disavow both | Authorized Version: Now as touching
power and knowledge such as is not | things offered unto idols, we know
dedicated to goodness or love, for saith | that we all have knowledge. Knowledge
he, IF I HAVE ALL FAITH SO AS I COULD | puffeth up, but charity edifieth.
REMOVE MOUNTAINS, (there is power active,) |
IF I RENDER MY BODY TO THE FIRE, (there is |
power passive,) IF I SPEAK WITH THE |
TONGUES OF MEN AND ANGELS, (there is |
knowledge, for language is but the |
conveyance of knowledge,) |
ALL WERE NOTHING{41}. | 41. 1 Corinthians 13, 1-3:
| Authorized Version: Though I speak
And therefore it is not the pleasure of | with the tongues of men and of angels,
| and have not charity, I am become as
| sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
| And though I have the gift of
| prophecy, and understand all
| mysteries, and all knowledge; and
| though I have all faith, so that I
| could remove mountains, and have not
| charity, I am nothing. And though I
| bestow all my goods to feed the poor,
| and though I give my body to be
| burned, and have not charity, it
| profiteth me nothing.
curiosity{42}, nor the quiet of | 42. Bacon here contrasts "curiosity"
resolution, nor the raising of the spirit, | with "thirst of knowledge" (p. 220).
nor victory of wit, nor faculty of speech, | "Curiosity" is used in a traditional
nor lucre of profession, nor ambition of | sense (see St. Augustine on curiositas
honour or fame, nor inablement for | in Confessiones X,35). He speaks of
business, that are the true ends of | curiositas also in "Actaeon et
knowledge; some of these being more worthy | Pentheus, sive Curiositas" in: De
than other, though all inferior and | sapentia veterum", VI: The Theban king
degenerate: but it is a restitution and | Pentheus is punished with madness
reinvesting (in great part) of man to the | because out of curiosity he has dared
sovereignty and power (for whensoever he | to observe certain mysteries which are
shall be able to call the creatures by | dedicated to Dionysos, that is: he
their true names be shall again command | applied (scientific) observation to
them) which he had | divine things, he did not respect the
| division between LUMEN NATURALE and
| LUMEN DIVINUM.--Bacon draws the same
| conclusions from the myth of
| Prometheus ("Prometheus, sive Status
| hominis").
| on curiosity see Hans Blumenberg, "Der
| Prozeß der theoretischen Neugierde",
| in: DIE LEGITIMITÄT DER NEUZEIT
| (Frankfurt, 1966).
in his first state of creation{43}. And | 43. compare with Milton's Paradise Lost
to speak plainly and clearly, it is a | Book XII
discovery of all operations and pos- |
sibilities of operations from immortality |
(if it were possible) to the meanest |
mechanical practice. And therefore |
knowledge that tendeth but to satisfaction |
is but as a courtesan, which is for |
pleasure and not for fruit or generation. |
And knowledge that tendeth to profit or |
profession or glory is but as the golden |
ball thrown before Atalanta{44}, which | 44. The Atalanta myth is treated by
while she goeth aside and stoopeth to take | Bacon in DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM (Works,
up she hindereth the | vol. VI)
| This is the German translation by
| Marina Münkler in: Weisheit der Alten,
| hrsg. von Philipp Rippel (Frankfurt
| a.M: Fischer, 1991):
| XXV. Atalanta oder die Gewinnsucht
| Atalanta, die für ihre Schnelligkeit
| berühmt war, forderte Hippomenes mit
| dem Versprechen zum Wettlauf heraus,
| daß er sie im Falle seines Sieges zur
| Frau nehmen dürfe, im Falle seiner
| Niederlage aber sein Leben verwirke.
| An Atalantas Sieg schien es keinen
| Zweifel geben zu können, da ihre
| unübertreffliche Schnelligkeit bereits
| durch den Tod zahlreicher Freier unter
| Beweis gestellt worden war. Hippomenes
| griff deshalb zu einer List. Er
| beschaffte sich drei goldene Äpfel,
| die er mit sich führte. Das Rennen
| begann, Atalanta ging in Führung. Als
| Hippomenes sah, daß er zurückfiel,
| griff er auf seine List zurück und
| warf einen seiner Äpfel so vor sie
| hin, daß sie ihn sehen mußte. Er warf
| ihn aber nicht direkt vor sie, sondern
| ein wenig abseits, damit sie sich
| nicht nur bücken, sondern auch ihre
| Bahn verlassen mußte. Erfüllt von
| weiblicher Gier und angezogen von der
| Schönheit der Frucht, verließ sie ihre
| Bahn, lief dem Apfel nach und hielt
| an, um ihn aufzuheben. In der
| Zwischenzeit lief Hippomenes weiter
| und ging in Führung. Aufgrund ihrer
| natürlichen Schnelligkeit machte
| Atalanta den Rückstand jedoch bald
| wieder wett und überholte ihn erneut.
| Nachdem Hippomenes sie jedoch in
| derselben Weise noch ein zweites und
| ein drittes Mal vom Weg abbrachte,
| gewann er schließlich den Wett!auf,
| freilich nicht durch seine Fähigkeit,
| sondern durch seine List.
|
| Diese Sage scheint eine hervorragende
| Allegorie über den Wettstreit von
| Kunst und Natur zu sein. Denn die
| Kunst, die von Atalanta repräsentiert
| wird, ist an sich, wenn ihr nichts im
| Wege steht, sehr viel schneller als
| die Natur, sie ist, wie man sagen
| könnte, der bessere Läufer und
| erreicht ihr Ziel schneller. Das zeigt
| sich an nahezu allen Dingen: Man
| sieht, daß sich Obstbäume nur langsam
| aus dem Kern, aber sehr viel schneller
| durch das Aufpfropfen von Zweigen
| entwickeln, daß Lehm sehr langsam zu
| Stein wird, während er sehr schnell zu
| Stein gebrannt werden kann. Auch die
| Sitten betreffend kann man beobachten,
| daß es sehr lange dauert, bis durch
| die Wohltaten der Natur ein Schmerz
| vergessen und Trost gefunden werden
| kann, während die Philosophie (die
| gleichsam die Kunst zu leben ist), den
| Tag nicht abwartet, sondern ihn
| vorhersieht und vor Augen führt. Dann
| aber wird dieser Vorsprung und die
| Fähigkeit der Kunst zum unendlichen
| Nachteil der Menschheit, durch jene
| goldenen Äpfel behindert. Denn es gibt
| keine Wissenschaft oder Kunst, die
| ihren wahren und richtigen Weg bis zum
| Ziel unbeirrt beibehält. Vielmehr
| geschieht es fortwährend, daß die
| Künste ihre Unternehmungen auf halbem
| Wege unterbrechen, vom Pfad abweichen
| und sich wie Atalanta Gewinn und
| Nutzen zuwenden:
|
| "Declinat cursus, aurumque volubile
| tollit" (Ovid, Metamorphosen X, 667).
|
| Und deshalb ist es nicht
| verwunderlich, daß es der Kunst nicht
| gegeben ist, den Sieg über die Natur
| zu erringen und sie nach den
| Bedingungen und Regeln des Wettkampfs
| zu töten und zu zerstören, sondern sie
| im Gegenteil der Natur unterworfen
| bleibt, wie das Weib dem Ehemann.
|
| Charles W. Lemmi (THE CLASSICAL
| DEITIES IN BACON. A STUDY IN
| MYTHOLOGICAL SYMBOLISM, Baltimore
| 1933, repr. New York 1971) says that
| Bacon draws on Natalis Comes (Conti)
| MYTHOLOGIAE SIVE EXPLICATIONUM
| FABULARUM LIBRI X (1551) and on
| Boccaccios DE GENEALOGIA DEORUM
| (1472).
|
| Simone Wirthmann comments:
| Treatises on classical mythology had a
| wide circulation during the
| Renaissance because it has been
| thought that one might discover in the
| stories of the gods and goddesses the
| wisdom of the ancients.
| It was in Italy, in the sixteenth
| century that the Renaissance produced
| the most widely known works on the
| classic deities.
|
| One of the most popular books was
| Natalis Conti's "MYTHOLOGY", which was
| fully as learned as any of its
| competitors, pleasanter to read and
| incomparably easier to use as a
| referencebook. Furthermore, it
| systematically interprets every myth
| it relates according to a multitude of
| authorities. It provides a list of
| authorities, an excellent index and
| synopses of the interpretations
| divided into ethical and physical.
| Despite all these new books, which
| largely superseded Boccaccio's famous
| "DE GENEALOGIIS DEORUM", they were far
| from causing it to be forgotten.
|
| For that reason it is to presume that
| Bacon draws on Natalis Comes (Conti)
| "MYTHOLOGIAE SIVE EXPLICATIONEM
| FABULARUM LIBRI X" (1551) and on
| "Boccaccio's De Genealogia
| Deorum"(1472) (see Charles W. Lemmi
| THE CLASSICAL DEITIES IN BACON. A
| STUDY IN MYTHOLOGICAL SYMBOLISM
| (Baltimore 1933, repr. New York 1971).
race{45}. And knowledge referred to some | 45. Ovid, Metamorphosen, Buch X, 665-
particular point of use is but | 680
as Harmodius{46} which putteth down one | 46. see Herodot, Histories, V, 55 and
tyrant, and not like | VI, 109 and 123
| The Oxford Classical Dictionary says:
| Aristogiton (6th c. B.C.), Athenian
| tyrannicide. He and Harmodius, both of
| noble family, planned to kill the
| tyrant Hippias and his younger brother
| Hipparchus, in consequence of a
| private quarrel (514 B.C.). The plot
| miscarried: only Hipparchus was
| killed. Harmodius was at one cut down
| by Hippias' guards, Aristogiton
| arrested and executed (after torture,
| it is said). As the tyranny was
| overthrown three years later, the two
| were popularly supposed to have made
| this possible, and were ever after
| called the Liberators. Simonides wrote
| a poem in their honour, statues of
| them were set up in the agora (and new
| ones erected when these were carried
| off by Xerxes in 480), and their
| descendants for all time honoured with
| the right to meals in the Prytaneum.
Hercules{47} who did perambulate the world | 47. Hercules is not a Baconian hero.
to suppress tyrants and giants and | The real hero is Orpheus as he is
monsters in every | interpreted in "Orpheus, sive
| Philosophia" in DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM.
| Orpheus is the Baconian philosopher,
| and the myth of Orpheus is about the
| opera scientiae. The works of Orpheus
| are superior to the works of Hercules
| as the "works of wisdom" (opera
| sapientiae) are superior to the "works
| of strength" (opera fortitudinis) (VI,
| 720).
|
| Simone Wirthmann comments:
| Hercules (gr. Heracles), (lit. "having
| or showing the glory of Hera"; Hera,
| wife of Zeus) Hercules, the son of
| Zeus and of the mortal Alkmene was a
| celebrated hero of Greek and Roman
| mythology, who after death was ranked
| among the gods and received divine
| honours. He is represented as
| possessed of prodigious strength,
| whereby he was enabled to perform
| twelve extraordinary tasks or
| "labours" imposed upon him by Hera.
| One of these tasks was to capture the
| cattles of the three-headed giant
| Geryoneus. It is said, that on this
| journey Hercules set up the rocks
| Calpé (now Gibraltar) and Abyla
| (Ceuta) / THE PILLARS OF HERCULES on
| either side of the Strait of
| Gibraltar, as a sign for his longest
| journey. THE PILLARS where seen by the
| ancients to be the supports of the
| western boundary of the world.
|
| Bacon uses the myth of Hercules and
| Harmodius in a methaphorical way, to
| elucidate the real contents of
| knowledge by comparing the two
| "heroes". Hercules impersonates
| strength and justice, throughout his
| life he tried to free people from
| tyranny, fought against giants and
| monsters without thinking of his own
| benefit. Harmodius in comparison tried
| to kill the tyrants Hippias and
| Hipparchus in consequence of a private
| quarrel and not primarily to free
| people.
|
| This shows, that for Bacon knowledge
| must be of general existence and not
| only refer to some particular point.
|
| Nevertheless, in one of his later
| works, DE SAPIENTIA VETERUM (1609),
| Hercules is not the Baconian hero
| anymore. The real hero is Orpheus, the
| philosopher. His works are superior to
| the works of Hercules as the "works of
| wisdom" (opera sapientiae) are
| superior to the "works of strength"
| (opera fortitudinis) (VI, 729).
|
| Orpheus was a legendary poet, a famous
| musician and singer of ancient Greece,
| who had the power of charming all
| animate and inanimate objects (he
| could move rocks and trees) by the
| sweet strains of his lyre. He
| descended living into Hades, to bring
| back to life his wife Eurydice, and
| perished, torn to pieces by infuriated
| Thracian maenads (see THE OXFORD
| CLASSICAL DICTIONARY; THE CENTURY
| DICTIONARY, VOL. 4)
part.{48} It is true, that in two points | 48. Spedding's note: The words "that
the curse is peremptory and not to be | is, man's miseries and necessities,"
removed; the one that vanity must be the | which followed in the transcript, have
end in all human effects, eternity being | a line drawn through them.
resumed, though the revolutions and |
periods may he delayed{49}. The other that | 49. Melek Hasgün comments:
the consent of the creature being now | "...eternity being resumed...".: In
turned into reluctation, this power cannot | Henry VIII (..) and King Lear (I/4)
otherwise be exercised and administered | ‘resume’ means: to take back
but with labour, as well in inventing as | something previously given or
in executing; yet nevertheless chiefly | granted. The fact that it is written
that labour and travel which is described | in the passive form without an object
by the sweat of the brows more than of the | implies that eternity has been taken
body; that is such travel as is joined | back by God, referring to the Fall of
with the working and discursion of the | Man and Paradise Lost.
spirits in the brain: for as Salomon saith |
excellently, THE FOOL PUTTETH TO MORE | ‘Revolution’ is the action or fact,
STRENGTH, BUT THE WISE MAN CONSIDERETH | on the part of celestial bodies, of
WHICH | moving round in an orbit or circular
| course. The time in which a planet or
| other heavenly body completes a full
| circuit or course. (OED) A look at the
| complete works and consequences of his
| work, namely the foundation of
| scientific or academic institutions
| after his death that were the
| precursors of the Royal Society
| (1660), ‘revolution’ can also be
| understood in the modern sense. In
| fact, NEW ATLANTIS and NOVUM ORGANUM
| set the foundation for the
| "intellectual revolution" (Harvey
| Wheeler's essay on Nova Atlantis; to
| be obtained from the author:
|
| [email protected]), which implies
| the complete overthrow of established
| state of affairs. (OED)
WAY{50}, signifying the election of the | 50. Ecclesiastes 10, 12:
mean to be more material than the | Authorized Version: The words of a
multiplication of endeavour. It is true | wise man's mouth are gracious; but the
also that there is a limitation rather | lips of a fool will swallow up
potential than actual, which is when the | himself.
effect is possible, but the time or place |
yieldeth not the matter or basis whereupon | for a commentary see A.L. Sp.III,322,
man should work. But notwithstanding these | I.14 seq. (D.A. Sp. I, 486, I, 11
precincts and bounds, let it be believed, | seq.)
and appeal thereof made to TIME, (with |
renunciation nevertheless to all the vain |
and abusing promises of Alchemists and |
Magicians, and such like light, idle, |
ignorant, credulous, and fantastical wits |
and sects,) that the new-found world of |
land was not greater addition to the |
ancient continent than there remaineth at |
this day a world of inventions and |
sciences unknown, having respect to those |
that are known, with this difference, that |
the ancient regions of knowledge will seem |
as barbarous compared with the new, as the |
new regions of people seem barbarous |
compared to many of the old. |
|
The dignity of this end (of endowment of |
man's life with new commodities) |
appeareth by the estimation that |
antiquity made of such as guided |
thereunto. For whereas founders of states, |
lawgivers, extirpers of tyrants, fathers |
of the people, were honoured but with the |
titles of Worthies or Demigods, inventors |
were ever consecrated amongst the Gods |
themselves. And if the ordinary ambitions |
of men lead them to seek the amplification |
of their own power in their countries, and |
a better ambition than that hath moved men |
to seek the amplification of the power of |
their own countries amongst other nations, |
better again and more worthy must that |
aspiring be which seeketh the |
amplification of the power and kingdom of |
mankind over the world; the rather because |
the other two prosecutions are ever |
culpable of much perturbation and |
injustice; but this is a work, truly |
divine which cometh IN AURA LENI {51} | 51. 1 Kings 19,12 (Vulgata)
without noise or observation{52}. | 52. St Luke 17,20:
| Authorized Version: And when he was
The access also to this work hath been by | demanded of the Pharisees, when the
that port or passage, which the divine | kingdom of God should come, he
Majesty (who is unchangeable in his ways) | answered them and said, The kingdom
doth infallibly continue and observe; that | of God cometh not with observation.
is the felicity wherewith he hath blessed |
an humility of mind, such as rather | see Novum Organum. I, 93; A.L. Sp.
laboureth to spell and so by degrees to | III, 301,I, 29-302; also N.O. I, 129
read in the volumes of his creatures, than | (Sp. I,222,I.16 seq.)
to solicit and urge and as it were to |
invocate a man's own spirit to divine and |
give oracles unto him. For as in the |
inquiry of divine truth, the pride of man |
hath ever inclined to leave the oracles of |
God's word and to vanish in the mixture of |
their own inventions; so in the self-same |
manner, in inquisition of nature they have |
ever left the oracles of God's works, and |
adored the deceiving and deformed imagery |
which the unequal mirrors of their own |
minds have represented unto them{53}. Nay | 53. compare this with the later idea of
it is a point fit and necessary in the | Idols
front and beginning of this work without |
hesitation or reservation to be professed, |
that it is no less true in this human |
kingdom of knowledge than in God's kingdom |
of heaven, that no man shall enter into it |
EXCEPT HE BECOME FIRST AS A LITTLE CHILD. |
| 54. Spedding's note: This chapter ends
| at the top of a new page. The rest is
| left blank.
|
| 55. In NO Bacon says that entrance into
| the new sciences depends upon their
| followers' imitating the little
| children favoured by Christ, children
| whose lack of vanity gives them
| privileged access to the kingdom of
| heaven (IV, 69). cf. John Channing
| Briggs, "Bacon's science and
| religion", in: THE CAMBRIDGE COMPANION
| TO BACON, ed. by Markku Peltonen
| (Cambridge, 1966), 172-199.
| St Mark, 10,15:
|
| Authorized Version: Verily I say unto
| you, Whosoever shall not receive the
| kingdom of God as a little child, he
| shall not enter therein.