Page:The Works of Francis Bacon (1884) Volume 1.djvu/382

 254 NOTES TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING. Which could live in the hottest part of that element: instantly perceiving what it was, he called for my sister, and, after he had shown us the creature, he gave me a box of the ear: I fell a crying, while he soothing me with his caresses, spoke these words, My dear child, I dont give you that box for any fault you have committed, but that you may recollect that this little creature which you see in the fire, is a salamander. &quot; Instances of the same nature occur daily, of which one of the most common and practical is the custom, when boys walk the boundaries of parishes, for the officer to strike the boy, that he may remember in old age the boundary which he walked; so that Bacon s doctrine seems to be well founded, that these things which make an impression by means of strong affection or passion assist the memory. The mind when disturbed, being, for this purpose, free from the same cause, the exclusion of all thought but the predominant pas sion. That strong- impressions are produced by a variety of circum- stances, appears by &quot;proving the same geometrical proposi tion by different forms of proofs, as algebraic and geometric, &c. Reading the same several truths in prose and in verse, and in different styles in each, &c. That impressions ought not to be too hastily made, may be inferred from the old adage, that &quot;great wits have short memories.&quot; With respect to cutting of infinity, or what Bacon terms, &quot;the limitation of an indefinite seeking to an inquiry within narrow compass.&quot; The first mode is, he says, by order or distribution ; the second by places for artificial memory ; which he says, &quot; May either be places in a proper sense, as a door, a window, a corner, &c., or familiar and known persons, or any known persons, or any other things at pleasure : provided they be placed in a certain order, as animals, plants, words, letters, characters, historical personages, &c., though some of these are more, and some less fit for the purpose. But such kind of places greatly help the memory, and raise it far above its natural powers.&quot; And we are told by Aubrey, that Lord Bacon s practice corresponded with his theory ; for &quot; In his description of Lord Bacon s house at Gorhambury, he says, Over this portico is a stately gallery, where glass windows are all painted: and every pane with several figures of beast, bird, or flower : perhaps his lordship might use them as topics for local memory. &quot; The third mode is, he says, by technical memory, of which I .iere are an infinite number of modes, not very highly prized by Bacon, (see page 212 of this volume,) of which old Fuller says, &quot; It is rather a trick than an art, and more for the gain of the teacher than profit of the learners. Like the tossing of a pike, which is no part of the postures and motions thereof, and is rather ostentation than use, to show the strength and nimbleness of the arm, and is often used by wandering soldiers as an introduction to beg. Understand it of the artificial rules which at this day are delivered by the memory mountebanks : for sure an art therefore may be made, (wherein as yet the world may be defective,) and that no more destructive to natural memory than spectacles are to the eyes, which girls in Holland wear from twelve years of age.&quot; With respect to the reduction of intellectual to sensible things, Bacon is more copious in his treatise &quot; I)e Augmentis,&quot; where he says, &quot; What is presented to the senses strikes more forci- Dly than what is presented to the intellect. The image of a hun sman pursuing a hare ; or an apothecary putting his boxes in order ; or a man making a speech ; or a boy reciting verses by heart ; or an actor upon the stage, are more easily remembered than the notions of invention, disposition, elocu tion, memory, and action.&quot; NOTE V. Referring to page 157. This seed has, for the last two centuries, been apparently not really dormant. It has, during this interval, been soften By the labours of foreign authors, from Montesquieu to the tical economists in this inland, and, above all, of Jeremy Ben- I tham, it is beginning to be admitted that law is a science,&quot; and that &quot; pour diriger les mou vemens de la pouppfe e humaine, Iil faudroit connoitre les fils qui la rneuvent.&quot; Commerce has already felt the influence of these opinions, the injurious re straints, by which its freedom was shackled, are mouldering away: and the lesson taught two thousand years ago, of for giveness of debtors, has, after the unremitted exertions of philosophy during this long period, been lately sanctioned by the legislature. It is now no longer contended that the count ing-house has any alliance with the jail, or that a man should be judge in his own cause, and assign the punishment of his own pain. These errors have passed away. In the first year of the reign of his present majesty, arbitrary imprison ment for debt was abolished by the establishment of the In solvent Court. The same influence has extended to our criminal law. The restraints upon conscience are gradually declining: and the punishment of death is receding within its proper limits, which it has for years exceeded, by the erroneous notion, that the power of a law varied not in versely, but directly as the opinion of its severity. Twenty years have scarcely passed away since Sir Samuel Romilly first proposed the mitigation of the punishment of death. His proposal was met in the English parliament as disre spectful to the judges, and an innovation by which crime would be increased, and the constitution endangered. During the excesses of the French revolution, the prudence of this country stood upon the old ways, dreading the very name of change ; but these fears no longer exist : timidity is finding its level, and, instead of being perplexed by fear of change, our intellectual government encourages improvement, which, thus fostered, is now moving upon the whole island. In the same first year of the reign of his present majesty, the fol lowing laws were enacted : &quot; An Act, to repeal so much of the several Acts passed in the thirty-ninth year of the reign of Elizabeth, the fourth of George I., the fifth and eighth of George II., as inflicts capital punishments on certain offences therein specified, and to pro vide more suitable and effectual punishment for such offences. &quot; An Act to repeal so much of the several Acts passed in the first and second years of the reign of Philip and Mary, the eighteenth of Charles II., the ninth of George I., and the twelfth of George II., as inflicts capital punishment on certain offences therein specified. &quot;An Act to repeal so much of an Act passed in the tenth and eleventh years of King William III., entitled, An Act for the better apprehending, prosecuting, and punishing o f felons, that commit burglary, house-breaking, or robbery, in shops, ware-houses, coach-houses, or stables, or that steai horses, as takes away the benefit of clergy from persons privately stealing in any shop, ware-house, coach-house, or stable, any goods, wares, or merchandises, of the value of 5s., and for more effectually preventing the crime of stealing privately in shops, ware-houses, coach-houses, or stables.&quot; May we not hope that during the next fifty years more progress will be made in sound legislation, than for some preceding centuries? and may we not ascribe these improve ments partly to the exertions of this great philosopher, who, in his dedication of the Novum Organum to King James, says, &quot; I shall, perhaps, when I am dead, hold out a light to poste rity, by this new torch set up in the obscurity of philosophy,
 * ing and expanding, and has lately appeared above the surface.
 * benevolent Beccarria, and of various philosophers and poll-