the years of Bacon's splendor as a member of the government and
as spokesman for the throne, his real life as a thinker, inspired by the
loftiest ambition which ever entered the mind of man, that of creating a
new and better civilization, was not interrupted. It was probably in
1603 that he wrote his fragmentary 'Prooemium de Interpretatione
Naturae,' or 'Preface to a Treatise on Interpreting Nature,' which is
the only piece of autobiography he has left us. It was found among his
papers after his death; and its candor, dignity, and enthusiasm of tone
are in harmony with the imaginative grasp and magnificent suggestiveness
of its thought. Commending the original Latin to all who can appreciate
its eloquence, we cite the first sentences of it in English:--

"Believing that I was born for the service of mankind, and
regarding the care of the Commonwealth as a kind of common
property which, like the air and water, belongs to everybody,
I set myself to consider in what way mankind might be best
served, and what service I was myself best fitted by nature
to perform.

"Now, among all the benefits that could be conferred upon
mankind, I found none so great as the discovery of new arts
for the bettering of human life. For I saw that among the
rude people of early times, inventors and discoverers were
reckoned as gods. It was seen that the works of founders of
States, law-givers, tyrant-destroyers, and heroes cover but
narrow spaces and endure but for a time; while the work of
the inventor, though of less pomp, is felt everywhere and
lasts forever. But above all, if a man could, I do not say
devise some invention, however useful, but kindle a light in
nature--a light which, even in rising, should touch and
illuminate the borders of existing knowledge, and spreading
further on should bring to light all that is most
secret--that man, in my view, would be indeed the benefactor
of mankind, the extender of man's empire over nature, the
champion of freedom, the conqueror of fate.

"For myself, I found that I was fitted for nothing so well as
for the study of Truth: as having a mind nimble and versatile
enough to discern resemblances in things (the main point),
and yet steady enough to distinguish the subtle differences
in them; as being endowed with zeal to seek, patience to
doubt, love of medi