The published works of this great man are not numerous. The best known of these works is en. titled Opus Majus, containing all abstract of his other treatises. An edition of this bock was print ed by Bowyer in 1733, under the inspection of Dr Jcbb. Another book, under the title of ./....pf:64,4 Fratris Raged Baeonis de seeretis operibus artis et nalurte, et de nullitate magice, has passed through several editions. A treatise addressed to Nicolas IV., On the Means of Avoiding the Infirmities of Age, has been repeatedly printed ; and several che mical essays written by him are inserted in the The saurus Chemicus, printed at Frankfort, in 1603 and 1620. Some of his manuscripts perished in the ruin of the Franciscan library at the Reformation ; and a number of others have been discovered in the diffe rent libraries of Oxford ; but little appears to be as certained with regard to their value.
The present age is disposed to do ample justice to Friar Bacon, as the greatest ornament whose name was ever enlisted among the followers of St Francis; and the foul aspersions cast on him in his lifetime, may be numbered among the most unequivocal testi monies to his worth. Admiring posterity sickens at being told, that the precious gem, which was capable of dazzling the whole intellectual world, was shut up from the view of a worthless generation, by the ignoble artifices of priestly zealots ; but, with this bitter sensation, the most oppressed and friendless ton of genius may delight to mingle the consolatory recollection, that from the joyless cell of Bacon is sued the first vivid gleams of that unquenchable flame, which, after the lapse of ages, was destined to burst forth with augmented splendour, guiding the steps of the inquisitive in the paths of discovery, and lighting prostrate nations to the means of securing the inestimable liberties of conscience, and all the sa cred immunities of free born men.
In exposing the futility and emptiness of monkish learning, Roger Bacon displayed the characteristic keenness of a great and original mind, confident of its own unquestionable right to speak with decision. We have already hinted at his vast acquirements in ancient learning. He contributed, more than any
person of his age, to revive the neglected study of mathematics. His progress in mechanics and che mistry was so great, that he anticipated some of the proudest discoveries of subsequent times. The in vention of gunpowder is now universally assigned to him, though it was claimed by a monk of the follow ing century. He is the first writer who hints at any thing like the science of Aeronautics ; and he speaks obscurely of many mechanical contrivances of vast power, the principles of which it is not easy to ascertain. His astronomical knowledge suggested to him that correction of the calendar which was adopted in the 16th century by Gregory XIII: His proficiency in optics, considering the disadvan tages under which he laboured, was truly wonder ful. He was no stranger to the use of convex and concave lenses, the laws of refraction, the theory of mirrors, the power of burning glasses, and the grand invention of the telescope. He wrote also many treatises on grammar, geography, chronology, logic, metaphysics, ethics, theology, and medicine. That he was enticed into the wild speculations of al chemy, is the greatest cloud wVcli hangs over his memory ; and it is..much to be regretted, that this epidemical infatuation of the times should have im peded his progress in the loftier and more profitable reseanhes if truth. Fiction, however, has taken many unwarrantable liberties with his name ; and some of the accounts which have been propaga ted, with regard to his attachment to occult and ‘" fanciful sciences, are sufficiently disproved by. the au thentic record of his writings. It would have been easy to amplify the list of his discoveries and sage conjectures ; but it is enough to say, that whatever were the subjects Which attracted his notice—and these included all the branches of human knowledge —he far outshone all the boasted luminaries of the age, all the subtle, profound, and seraphic doctors, whose once-idolized names are now sinking in the oblivious gulph of time. See Cave list. Lit Wood, 'hdlg. Oxon. Waddingi Annales Minor... Borrich De ,Orig. Chem. Pits De illustr. Angl:. Script. Bale, Script. Brit. (m. o.)