for foreigners, especially instancing Peter de Rupibus, bishop of Winchester. His boldness had great weight with the king, and procured himself much popularity. In 1240 he entered the order of preaching friars, and died in 1248. He wrote many works, which have all perished.—J. B., O.
BACON, Roger, sometimes called Friar Bacon, born in 1214, at Ilchester in Somersetshire; died in 1292. This great man, for whom we may claim the title of founder of experimental philosophy, stands conspicuous in a dark age for his firm assertion of the only sound principles of physical investigation, and for the sagacity and success with which he applied these principles in his experimental researches. He was of an ancient and distinguished family; his university studies were pursued, first at Oxford, and afterwards at Paris, where he took the degree of doctor in theology. The time of his joining the order of Franciscans appears to have been about the year 1240, soon after his return from Paris to his native country. Being impressed with the necessity of allying literature to science, he made himself master of Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic, and was renowned for the extent of his erudition. He was also a most accomplished mathematician. The natural sciences appear to have attracted him somewhat late in his course of study; he tells us that "after having long laboured at the study of books and languages, becoming at last sensible of the poverty of his knowledge, he desired thenceforward, neglecting Aristotle, to penetrate more intimately into the secrets of nature, by seeking to obtain ideas of all things from his own experience." Henceforth he turned all his energies in this direction, sparing neither time nor money. His success in physical research (together, perhaps, with his extensive learning) procured him the universal designation of "The Admirable Doctor;" while, at the same time, they laid him open to the suspicion of magic and sorcery. This suspicion, together with his daring spirit of innovation, made him many enemies, and their persecutions embittered many years of his life. Pope Innocent IV. ordered him to suspend his lectures at the university of Oxford; and he was soon afterwards imprisoned. On the accession of Clement IV., who had heard of his fame when papal legate in England, he was set at liberty; and it is to him that Bacon dedicates his "Opus Majus." As long as his pontificate lasted Bacon was under efficient protection; but under the next pope, Nicholas III., his enemies again prevailed, and Bacon spent ten long years in close confinement, aggravated by unnecessary severity. He was seventy years of age when he was at length liberated, and the eight remaining years of his life furnished no important contribution to science or literature.
The most important works of Roger Bacon are the "Opus Majus" (his principal production); the "Opus Minus;" "Opus Tertium;" the "Epistle on the Secret Processes of Art and Nature, and the Nullity of Magic;" the "Mirror of Secrets;" and the "Mirror of Alchemy." The first part of the "Opus Majus" treats of the four universal causes of human ignorance, viz., 1st, deference to authority; 2nd, traditionary habit; 3d, the imperfection of the undisciplined senses; 4th, the disposition to conceal our ignorance, and make a show of our supposed knowledge. In regard to authority, he seeks to show that Aristotle and antiquity were not infallible. He speaks indeed with great applause of Aristotle; "yet," he adds, "those who came after him corrected him in some things, and added many things to his works, and shall go on adding to the end of the world." "There are two modes of knowing," he says, "by argument, and by experiment. Argument concludes a question; but it does not make us feel certain, or acquiesce in the contemplation of truth, except the truth be also found to be so by experience." One of the most remarkable sections of the book is devoted to "experimental science," to which he ascribes three prerogatives, distinguishing it above other branches of inquiry, viz., "First, She tests by experiment, the noblest conclusion of all other sciences. Next, she discovers respecting the notions which other sciences deal with, magnificent truths to which these sciences of themselves can by no means attain. Her third dignity is, that by her own power, and without respect of other sciences, she investigates the secrets of nature." One of his examples is the rainbow; and he describes a very full and accurate course of experiments, with a view to determine its cause; furnishing an admirable instance of experimental investigation, in an age when such investigations were almost unknown. Another remarkable section of the work is devoted to optics. It contains statements of many of the laws of refraction and reflection, and incontestably proves that Bacon was acquainted with magnifying glasses. But the most extraordinary paragraph here is that which relates to telescopes. "It is easy," he says, "to conclude from the rules established above, that the largest things can appear small, and vice versâ, and that very distant objects can appear very near, and vice versâ; for we can cut glasses in such sort, and dispose them in such a manner with regard to our sight and external objects, that the rays are broken and refracted in the direction which we wish, so that we shall see an object, near or remote, under whatever angle we wish, and thus at the most incredible distance we shall read the most minute letters, we shall count the grains of sand or dust, on account of the greatness of the angle under which we see them: for the distance has no effect directly in itself, but only by altering the size of the angle. . . . . In this manner, also, we may make the sun, the moon, and the stars descend, by bringing their figures nearer to the earth." It is doubtful whether Bacon ever actually made a telescope, but he at least did much towards laying down the theory of its construction. The section on mathematics gives him an undoubted claim to be regarded as the projector of the reform in the calendar. He promised to Pope Clement IV. the requisite correction, but without success.
In his "Treatise on the Secret Works of Nature and Art, and the Nullity of Magic," he introduces descriptions which apparently refer to steam travelling, both by land and water; to balloons; the diving-bell; and suspension-bridges. In the chapter on optics, he explains the mirage by refraction. In the last part of the treatise, which is devoted to alchemy, he describes the composition and effects of gunpowder; but his knowledge of it would appear to be at least in part borrowed from his contemporaries.
Though the fame of Roger Bacon has been completely eclipsed by that of his great namesake, who, following in his footsteps, at the distance of three hundred years, earned for himself the title of "father of inductive philosophy," it must yet be acknowledged that, besides possessing a practical skill in experiment to which the great chancellor was a stranger, the poor monk had also a clearer insight into the respective functions of experiment and mathematical deduction, as instruments of physical investigation.
On the other hand, Roger Bacon was infected with some of the crude notions of the age. In regard to astrology, he believed that the stars exert an influence on the various parts of the human body, and that by this means the mind is excited to particular acts, free-will remaining unimpaired. In his "Mirror of Alchemy," he maintains that nature, in the formation of metallic veins, tends constantly to produce gold, but is hindered by various accidents, and thus creates metals which contain impure matters mingled with the fundamental body. But it must be said in justice to him, that though his chemical notions were deranged by the ideas of the time, he did much for the advancement of sound chemical knowledge; in fact, he is acknowledged to have introduced the study into England, and to have been the earliest writer on chemistry in Europe.
Popular superstition long invested Bacon with the character of a magician, and various absurd stories were believed respecting him; amongst others that he forged a brazen head, which was able not only to speak, but to give oracular responses. In the old English comedies he is introduced (like Doctor Faust in Germany) as the impersonation of magic.—J. D. E.
BACON, Samuel, an American missionary, who was commissioned by the federal government in 1820, to establish a colony in Africa. He arrived at Sierra Leone with forty-eight men on the 9th March of that year; but endeavouring to penetrate farther into the country, he was seized with a malady which rapidly proved fatal.
BACREVANTATZY, David, a theologian of the greater Armenia, was employed by the Emperor Constantius in 647 to restore order among his compatriots.
BACSÁNYI, John, Hungarian author, born 1763 at Tapo-Icza, county Zala. He founded in 1785, together with his friends Baróti and Kazinczy, the first Hungarian literary review, which, however, was suppressed in 1792 for its liberal tendency. In 1793 Bacsányi was dismissed from the treasury-clerkship, on account of a patriotic song of which he was the author; and in 1794 imprisoned in an Austrian fortress as being concerned in the conspiracy of the Abbot Martinovics. Released in 1796, Bácsanyi contributed articles to the Hungarian review, Magyar
