Bacon A Machiavellian Essayist

Sir Francis Bacon was a great essayist and prose writer of 17th century literature.
He is very much known for his essays and so his place is great as an essayist. He
was born in England, got basic education at Cambridge. His father was also a great
man, very close to the Ministers of Queen Elizabeth. Bacon educated himself in
law and became Bar at Law.
Bacon was very much influenced by Machiavelli. He was a prudent and
Machiavellian thinker. His views on personal and social life of man may be seen in
his essays.
He wishes to see equality and justice among people and he advises that they should
be kind and sympathetic to others.
Bacon has given practical advice to the kings and rulers how to deal with
ambitious persons in the state. Bacon advises kings not to side with any particular
faction or party in the state. They should not allow factions to grow. Factions under
kings ought to be like the motions of the inferior.
The relation in which the judges ought to stand to their king is discussed in the
essay of Judicature. Judges ought not to forget their high and important position in
the state. They are subordinate to their rules. They must not thwart the wishes of
the king. He tells them now to deal with their neighbors, their second nobles or
gentlemen, their merchants, their commons, and their men of war. Bacon examines
the causes of seditions and troubles in the state and suggests methods where by
kings can successfully prevent their up rise.
The essays of Bacon give wise counsel to the king on various aspects. Like
Machiavelli he thinks that the common code of morality does not apply to the king.
He advises the king to rule by craft and cunningness. The king ought to be selfish
and self-centered but not the common people, who should recognize the claim of
the state and society on the individual. It is the duty of the judges and the ministers
of state to placate the wishes of the king. The judges are, no doubt, lions but they
are lions under the throne. To the kings, he suggests ways and means of self-
aggrandizement, expansion of colonies, increase of revenue, avoidance of factions
and suppressions of seditions in the state. Thus Bacons king is virtually the
prince of Machiavelli. Bacons thought are characterized by an absence of
idealism, as are Machiavellis. He does not forbid men to take recourse to immoral
means for personal gain. But he does not permit him to harm the state. The wise
man according to Bacon, should lead a life of action and not merely of
contemplation, as Plato suggests. Action, however, should not be hampered by
moral considerations, though the wise man will certainly consider carefully all the
possible consequences of the courses of action he wishes to pursue. Self-gain is
certainly desirable but not at the cost of the state. In Bacons ethics, state comes
first and the individual afterwards.
Bacon wishes to escape from the private and personal to the political aspect of the
question with which he deals. This he does not only in the discussion of unity in
religion but in the treatment of marriage. Evidently he felt himself more at home in
the character of statesman than in that of moralist and among the weightiest of his
essays are those which treat of political questions. Nowhere does his wisdom show
to better advantage. In his capacity of political moralist, Bacon seems to shake of
the fetters which cramp him when he is dealing with individual morality. It is the
fact that he is always, at heart, a political moralist that lowers his tone in the other
class of cases.
Bacon advises that when a person seeks victory over his nature, let him not set
himself too great, nor too small tasks; for the first will make him dejected by often
fallings and the second will make him a small proceeded, though by often
prevailing. Since custom is the principal magistrate of mans life, let man by all
means endeavor to obtain good customs.
Francis Bacon: Worldly Wisdom

Bacon was, definitely, a worldly wise man. He was the wisest and the meanest of
mankind. He was truly of Renaissance; the age of accumulating knowledge, wealth
and power. Being a true follower of Machiavellian principles, he led his life for
worldly success. He was a man of shrewd and sagacious intellect with his eyes
fixed on the main chance. And what he preached in his essays was also the
knowledge, needed for worldly success.

There is no doubt that Bacons essays are a treasure house of worldly wisdom. The
term worldly wisdom means a wisdom which is necessary for worldly success. It
does not need any deep philosophy or any ideal morality. But Bacon was a man of
high wisdom, as he himself pronounced, I have taken all knowledge to be my
province. Bacon also preached morality but his morality is subordinate to worldly
success and he never hesitated to sacrifice it for worldly benefit. His essays are rich
with the art which a man should employ for achieving success in his life, such as
shrewdness, sagacity, tact, foresight, judgment of character and so on.

The subject of Bacon in his essays is the man who needs prosperity in worldly
terms. Bacons essays bring men to come home to mens business and bosoms.
He teaches them, how to exercise ones authority and much more. When he
condemns cunning, it is not because of a hateful and vile thing, but because it is
unwise. That is why the wisdom in his essay is considered a cynical kind of
wisdom. He describes his essays as Counsels civil and moral.

In his essay Of Truth, Bacon appreciates truth and wishes people to speak the
truth. He says:

A lie faces God and shrinks from man.

He warns human beings against the punishment for the liar on the doomsday. But
at the same time, he considers a lie as an alloy which increases the strength of
gold and feels it necessary for the survival on earth. He says:

A lie doth ever add pleasure.

---this is purely a statement of a worldly wise man.

The essay Of Great Places though contains a large number of moral precepts yet
in this very same essay he also preaches worldly success.

It is a strange desire to seek power and to lose liberty; By pains men come to
greater pains. And

Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.

Then Bacon suggests that men in authority should work not only for the betterment
of public but also for their own status:

All rising to great place is by a winding stair; and if there be factions, it is good to
side a mans self whilst he is rising and to behave himself when he is placed.

It is purely a utilitarian advice and it surely holds a compromise between morality

and worldly success. Even when Bacon urges a man not to speak ill of his
predecessor, it is not because of high morality but because of the fact that the man
who does not follow advice would suffer with unpleasant consequences.

Bacons approach towards studies is also purely utilitarian. In his essay Of

Studies, he does not emphasize on study for its own sake, but for the benefit
which it can provide to man to be supplemented by practical experience.

Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man and writing an exact man.

And then he says:

Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed
and digested.

Bacon also points out the effects of different branches of studies on a mans mind
and thinks it helpful in the cure of different mental ailments and follies.
His essay Of Suitors totally reveals Bacons shrewd insight. Although he
suggests that a suitor should not be disloyal towards his petition and should tell
him the truth about the chances of winning the suit without leaving him wandering
in false hopes. Bacon suggests that a patron should not charge extensive amounts
for a small case. But then he dilutes all this by saying if the patron wants to support
the non-deserving party, he should make a compromise between both of them, so
that the deserving party would bear not great loss. This is a purely utilitarian
approach and it shows what Bacon himself had been in his career, for it was his
own profession.

In the essay Of Revenge Bacon shows a certain high morality by saying that:

Revenge is a kind of wild justice; One who studieth revenge, keeps his own
wounds green.

He feels dignity in forgiving ones enemy. But then he says that even revenge is just
in the cases when one can save ones skin from the hands of law.
Bacon showed a certain incapacity for emotions. He took the relation of friendship
for its benefit and made a purely worldly approach to the subject which intimately
deals between two persons. He gave us the uses and abused of friendship. He says:

Those that want friends to open themselves unto, are cannibals of their own
hearts.

This essay clearly shows Bacons cynical wisdom and that his morality is stuffed
with purely utilitarian considerations.

Bacon considers love as a child of folly. In his essay Of Love he says:

It is impossible to love and to be wise.

He considers wife and children as hindrance in the way of success and progress.
He says:

He that hath wife and children hath given hostages to fortune.

Afterwards in his essay Of Marriage and Single Life he tells the benefits of a
wife.

Wives are young mens mistresses, companion to middle age and old mans
nurse.

In his essay Of Parents and Children Bacon puts:

Children sweeten labour, but they make misfortune more bitter.

All these statements show his essentially mean and benefit seeking attitude, even in
the matters of heart. In short, Bacons essays are a hand book of practical
wisdom enriched with maxims which are very helpful for worldly wisdom and
success.
Dispersed Meditation in Francis Bacon
The essays of Francis Bacon show the example of Dispersed Meditation. It is the
style, where, though the discussing matter is same, the ideas that are coming one
by one are not well organized or ideas don't come consecutively. This is why the
question of dispersed meditation has been raised. Of course, Bacon does not stay
away from the subject that he places before himself. There is nothing irrelevant or
unrelated to the theme. He does not allow his mind or fancy to loiter and roam. But
we can't describe his essays as well-knit compositions because there are no light
connections between the various ideas and the ideas do not seem to flow from one
another. We can't claim that an essay by Bacon has a structural unity. Ideas have
been put together in his essays almost at random.

In "Of Studies", we find various ideas regarding study. The author gives us ideas
about the uses and abuses of reading books, ways of reading and so on. But we
don't find any connection between the ideas. He jumps from one topic to another
topic very abruptly, although the main topic, study, remains unchanged. None of
the multitudes of ideas are fully developed, but then one may argue that an essay
by its very nature implies a mere attempt and not a complete treatment of a subject.
This is true but there should surely be some kind of smooth flow of ideas from one
to another. There sentences have a tendency to stand by themselves, having no or
little link with preceding or succeeding sentences.

The very first sentence of this essay reads like a string of aphorism or maxim. In
the very first sentence of this essay, Bacon tells about the three chief uses of
studies; the use of studies for delight, for ornament and for ability. He also gives
excellent advices so as to why and how one should read. Then he speaks of those
who spend too much time in studies are temperamentally lazy. Here he says,
"To spend too much time in studies is sloth; to use them too much for ornament, is
affectation; to make judgment wholly by their rules, is the humour of a scholar."
Actually in these sentences, Bacon tries to show the user and causes of studies, but
next he jumps to another idea about studies without any logical connection
between the preceding and the succeeding sentences. Here he starts talking about
the interrelationship between studies and practical experiences. Studies help a man
to overcome deficiencies that he has by nature, and studies give shape of natural
talents. Here he says,
"They perfect nature and are perfected by experiences for natural abilities are like
natural plants, that need proyning by study".
This is an example of dispersed meditation.

Next he jumps to another track. That is the right attitude towards reading. Here he
says that one should read a book so that one can think carefully about what it says
and then judge its value, saying, "Crafty men contemn studies, simple men admire
them, and wise men use them".

Next he jumps to the modes of study and their uses, saying,

"Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man".
In the previous sentence where he was talking about what we should take from
study, now he says what study gives us.

Next he discusses about various branches of studies and their curing ability. In this
part, he says that History makes a man wise, Poetry makes a man imaginative,
Mathematics makes a man's mind keen and subtle of so do other branches of
studies. Actually every branch of knowledge has its curing ability. Studies cure
mental just as the appropriate physical exercise cure effects of the body.
Dispersed ideas are also found in the essay, "Of Truth". Here also we see that the
central idea is about Truth, although he gives various ideas regarding truth and
truthfulness in dispersed way. Although we find various ideas like the people who
do not care for truth, reasons why truth is disliked, poetic untruth, nature of truth
and truth in civil business, we don't find any connection or interrelationship among
there topics.

At first Bacon tells the readers about the people who don't care for truth. Certain
people find great pleasures in changing their opinions frequently because they
desire ultimate freedom to act and think, which would not be possible if they had
to believe in a fixed principle. Here Bacon says, " Certainly there be that delight in
giddiness and count it a bondage to fix a belief; affecting free-will in thinking, as
well as acting". And he gives the idea that standers of truth in religions,
philosophical and moral spheres keep changing from time to time. Then he
proceeds, very abruptly, to examine the tendency of human beings to feel more
pleased by lies than by truth, and finds it difficult to explain as to why people
should tell lies for the sake of lies. He says,
"that man should love lies" for "lies sake"

Then he jumps to the fact that the harm that is done by lies that sinks into the
minds of people and settles down there.

Next he speaks about the values of truth, which can be realized by those who have
experienced and understood it. The essay concludes with a warning that the
wickedness of falsehood and breach of faith with receive their due punishment in
the Judgement Day. Actually, Bacon doesn't offer a particular thesis on the subject
of Truth but merely records his thoughts as them come.

In summing up it can be same that Bacon's essays are the full of dispersed
meditation. The ideas that come one after another don't have much harmony
between them. Actually his writings are full of aphorism for which the sentences of
his essays seem not related with one another. And all these things are seen in
various essays of Bacon.
If parts allure these think how Bacon shind
The wisest, brightest and meanest of mankind.

Bacon was the wisest because of his worldly wisdom, he was brightest owing to
his powerful intellect and the art of writing terse essays, and he was meanest due to
his treacherous character.
The above mentioned remark on Bacon was made by a renowned and marvelous
poet, Alexander Pope. If we observe critically, this statement holds its validity.
For Bacon appeared to be a true child of Renaissance. Undoubtedly he was a man
of wisdom and powerful intellect. But all at once he was a calculating character,
keeping an eye on the main chance. He was a true follower of Machiavelli. He
failed to harmonize his mixed motives, complex principles and high aims together.
He wanted to strive after the selfless scientific truth but he was conscious that
nothing could be done without money and power. So, he strived after material
success. Bacon belonged to the age of glory and greatness, surprising meanness
and dishonest conduct and he could not avoid these evils.
Bacon was a man of multi-talents. His wisdom was undeniable. The thirst for
infinite knowledge and his versatility was truly astonishing. He possessed an
intellect of the highest order. He was learned in Greek, French, Latin, English,
Science, Philosophy, Classics and many other fields of knowledge. He is regarded
as the creator of the modern school of experimental research. He held that:
man is the servant and interpreter of nature.
 He supplied the impulse which broke with the medieval preconceptions and set
scientific inquiry on modern lines. He emphasized on experimentation and not to
accept things for granted. Bacon was indeed an eloquent prophet of new era and
the pioneer of modern sciences.
The essays of Bacon also portray his intellect and practical wisdom. The varied
range of subjects too expresses that he had taken all knowledge to be his
province. Bacon could utter weighty and pregnant remarks on almost any subject,
from Greatness of Kingdoms to Gardens. The essays are loaded with the ripest
wisdom of experience and observation conveyed through short, compact and terse
sentences. One cannot deny the sagacity and shrewdness of his counsels. Bacons
essays deal with man. He is an able analyst of human nature, and his conduct in
public and private affairs. His comments regarding mans behaviour may at times
sound cynical but they are undeniable truths. He says:
A mixture of a lie doth even add pleasure.
Bacon is true here for most of the people would find life terrible without false
hopes and false impressions. His views about friendship, though lacks in feelings
and emotions, yet these are undeniably true to human nature.
Following are a few examples of his wisdom.
One who studieth revenge, keeps his own wounds green.
And
Men in great places are thrice servants.
So, like a very wise man he coin ideas and teaches them to make people wise in
worldly terms.
Bacons brightness is best illustrated in the way in which he clothes his wisdom
into brevity and lends the readers a great pleasure. The compactness of thought and
conciseness of expression was a virtue in an age when looseness in thought and
language was the rule. The essays are enriched with maxims and proverbs. He
supports his ideas and arguments with innumerable quotations, allusions and
analogies which prove his wide knowledge and learning. The aptness of the
similes, the witty turn of phrases and the compact expression of weighty thoughts
are evidence enough of the brightness of his intellect.
Suspicions among thoughts are like bats among birds.
Money is like much, except it be spread.
Virtue is like precious adours --- most fragrant, when they are incensed or
crushed.
Moreover, the precise and authentic turn of sentences and the condensation of
thoughts in them have been enhanced by the antithetical presentation. Such as:
A lie faces God and shrinks from man.
The ways to enrich are many and most of them are foul.
It is a strange desire to seek power and to lose liberty.
Through indignation, men rise to dignity.
Thus with the tool of antithesis, Bacon made his argument many times stronger
and influential than a simple sentence. He created so much wit and strength in such
precise writings that they are still valid and famous. No man individually did
provide such strength and simplicity to the English language than Bacon. Bacon
tried to reach the readers mind by a series of aphoristic attacks. Therefore he is
considered as the pioneer of modern prose. There is hardly any equal of him for
clear, terse and compact writing.
Now, it appears to be an irony of nature that a man with such a tremendous
intellect and wisdom had such a mean character. Bacon was not mean in the sense
of being a miser. He was indeed reputed to be a very generous. The manner in
which Bacon betrayed his friends, especially Essex, proved him most ungrateful
and ignoble man. He made friendship and uprightness subordinate to his success.
He always kept his eye on the main chance, worshipping the rising sun and
avoiding of the setting one.
His marriage was also a marriage of convenience. He did not hesitate to take part
in political intrigues in order to promote his ambition. His letter to the king and
queen were also full of flattery that it was hard to believe that they came from the
pen of such an intellectual man.
Though he was wise yet he showed certain incapacity of emotions and this trait
can also be witnessed in his essays. He took the purely personal and domestic
matters of a man like marriage, friendship, love etc in terms of pure utility. Such
as:
He that hath wife and children hath given hostages to fortune.
And
Those that want friends to open themselves unto are cannibals of their own
heart.
In short, Bacon was a man of the world worldly wisdom and worldly
convenience. He had a great brain but not a great soul. His complex and
contradictory characters will continue to be a psychological enigma for the readers
to understand. So, he was definitely the wisest, brightest and meanest of mankind.

BIOGRAPHY
Early Life
Francis Bacon was born on January 22, 1561 at York House near the Strand in
London. He was born to Sir Nicholas Bacon and his second wife Anne (Cooke)
Bacon. His mother was the daughter of great humanist Anthony Cooke. It is
believed that junior Bacon received education at home only, in the starting years of
his life due to bad health. He received tuitions from John Walsall who was a
graduate of Oxford with a strong bending towards Puritanism. On April 5, 1573,
Bacon gained admission in Trinity College, Cambridge at the age of 12. He lived
there for three years with his older brother, Anthony under the personal
guardianship of Dr John Whitgift, future Archbishop of Canterbury.
Young Bacon was taught mainly in Latin followed by the medieval curriculum.
He went on to get education from the University of Poitiers. At the Cambridge, he
met Queen Elizabeth, who was influenced by his exceptionally smart intellect
called him "the young Lord Keeper". Bacons studies guarded him to the belief that
the methods and results of science as practiced then were completely wrong. His
high opinion for Aristotle conflicted with his strong disliking of Aristotelian
philosophy. He took the Aristotelian philosophy as unprofitable, argumentative and
incorrect in its objective. He and his brother, Anthony entered de societate
magistrorum at Gray's Inn on 27th June, 1576. After some months, Bacon went
abroad with Sir Amias Paulet, the English ambassador at Paris. His brother
continued studying at home only.

In France, the state of government and society under Henry III gave Bacon
valuable political instructions. Following three years, Bacon visited Blois, Poitiers,
Tours, Italy and Spain. He studied languages, statecraft, and civil law while
accomplishing routine diplomatic tasks. He also delivered diplomatic letters to
England for Walsingham, Burghley, and Leicester and for the queen as well. In
1579, Bacons father died suddenly inducing him to return to England. Sir
Nicholas arranged a nice amount of money to buy an estate for his youngest son
but died before the same. Francis got only a fifth of that sum of money thereafter.
As Bacon had taken loan, he went bankrupt. He, then, in 1579, accommodated his
residence in law at Grays Inn.

Parliamentarian
The three chief goals of Bacon were to uncover truth, to serve his country, and to
serve his church. Bacon looked further to these by attempting to get a prestigious
post. He also applied for a post in the court through his uncle; Lord Burghley in
1580 which he believed would allow him to pursue a life of learning but his
application was rejected. Following two years, he worked at Grays Inn, only to be
admitted as an outer barrister in 1582. He took his seat in the parliament for
Melcombe in Dorset in 1584 and afterwards for Taunton in 1586. This was the
time when Bacon started writing on the condition of church parties and also on the
topic of philosophical reform in the lost tract, Temporis Partus Maximus.

Even after working for long, Bacon did not succeed in acquiring the position he
desired for that would lead him great success. He exhibited signs of sympathy to
Puritanism by attending the sermons of the Puritan chaplain of Gray's Inn. He also
accompanied his mother to the chapel to hear Walter Travers. As a result, his
earliest surviving track got published which criticized the English church's
suppression of the Puritan clergy. In the year 1586, Bacon openly disapproved the
execution of queen of Scots, Mary. Due to his increasing progress at the bar, Bacon
contacted his uncle for help. The same year, he became Bencher and was chosen as
a reader in 1587. He delivered his first lecture in Lent the very next year. Bacon
accepted the valuable appointment of reversion to the Clerkship of the Star
Chamber in 1589, though he took to office formally only in 1608.

Later Life
Francis Bacon acquainted with Robert Devereux who was 2nd Earl of Essex and
favorite of Queen Elizabeth and by 1591, became the earl's confidential adviser.
The following year, Bacon was authorized to write a tract in response to the Jesuit
Robert Parson's anti-government polemic, which he gave the headline as Certain
Observations Made Upon A Libel, recognizing England with the ideals of
democratic Athens opposite of the belligerence of Spain. In February 1593, Queen
Elizabeth called parliament to investigate a Roman Catholic plot against her. His
opposition to a bill that would impose triple allowance in half of the normal time
was repelled by a lot of people. He was blamed as a popularity seeker by the
opponents and was expelled by the royal court for some time.

Year 1594 and 1595 did not bring much of good news for Bacon as he meted with
failure. First, in 1594, he failed to bag the Attorney-Generalship seat that had gone
vacant. Next in 1595, he failed to save the lesser office of Solicitor-General. Even
Lord Essex also could not use much of his power and influence on both the
occasions. In 1596, Bacon was appointed as the Queen's Counsel. During this
phase, Bacons financial position remained dubious. The effort of his friends to
find him a public office also seemed to go in vain as they couldnt find any. Also,
his strategy for recovering his lost position by marrying a rich and young widow
Lady Elizabeth Hatton failed, when she broke off with him and married a wealthier
man. As such, in 1598, Bacon was arrested for debt.

However, slowly but steadily, his image in the eyes of Queen improved, as he
grabbed himself a place in the standing of the learned counsels, though without any
salary, commission or warranty. He further raised his image in the Queens eye by
making a clever move by detaching ties with Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex as
he was executed in 1601 for treason. Also, Bacon with the team was asked to
investigate all the charges against Essex. Bacon was a member of the legal team at
Essex's treason trial led by Attorney General, Sir Edward Coke. Post execution,
Bacon was appointed to write the official government account of the trial by the
Queen. These accounts were published as A Declaration of the Practices and
Treasons. However, the first draft presented by the Bacon was edited by the
Queen and her ministers up to a great extent.
Meeting James I
When James I came to the power, he brought great favors for Bacon, for the latter
was knighted in 1603. Bacon also did another clever move by writing an apology
in consideration of his proceedings in Essex case. This was mainly because Essex
played a major role in letting James come to power. At last, Bacon was given an
office of Solicitor-General in June 1607. The next year, he started working as the
Clerkship of the Star Chamber and had a good income. But still because of his old
debts, he remained indebted. Bacon continued to support King James and his
absolute policies to grab promotion and wealth. The forth session of Jamess
firstparliament took place in 1610. Not heeding Bacons advice, James and the
Commons discovered themselves at odds over royal prerogatives.
The parliament dissolved in February 1611. All through this time, Bacon remained
in the favor of the King and also retained the confidence of the Commons. Bacon
was appointed as Attorney General, after he gave advice to the King on the
shuffling of judicial appointments in 1613. In the April of 1614, the Prince's
Parliament" raised questions on Bacons presence in the Cambridge seat and all the
royal plans supported by him. Therefore a law came into being that prohibited
Attorney General to sit in parliament. In 1616, after becoming the Attorney
General, he prosecuted Somerset. Most of his peers were jealous and angry of him
seeing his closeness with the King. But King remained in the influence of Bacon
and in March 1617, he was appointed as the temporary Regent of England and
subsequently as Lord Chancellor in 1618.
As A Lord Chancellor
The image of Bacon among public ended disgracefully in 1621. He again fell into
debts and a parliamentary committee on the administration of the law charged
Bacon with twenty-three separate counts of corruption. Later, Bacon was
sentenced with a fine of 40,000. The punishment was remitted by King and
Tower of London committee. Bacon was imprisoned just for few days only.
Thereafter, the parliament declared him inadequate for holding future office.
Bacon escaped from the eyes of people and indulged in study and writing.
Personal Life
Bacon was courting a young widow Elizabeth Hatton but she broke up with him
and accepted marriage to a wealthier man- Edward Coke. Later at 45, Bacon
married Alice Barnham. She was the daughter of a London MP. Bacon also wrote
two poems expressing his love towards Alice, first during his courtship and second
on their wedding anniversary on May 10, 1606. But their relationship turned dicey
when Bacon fell into debts. Later, Bacon decided to stay away from her, as she
was in a secret relationship with John Underhill. Also, Bacon rewrote his will and
took back all his wealth from her. Many people also speculated that despite his
marriage, he was attracted towards the same sex. Examples were also set of the
King-Bacon relationship.
Death
On April 9 1629, Francis Bacon died at Arundel mansion at Highgate outside
London due to severe pneumonia. John Aubrey gave a brief description on the
account of his death. It is said they were experimenting some scientific method by
using snow for preserving meat. Bacon went to poor ladys home at the Highgate
hill. He brought fowl from there after asking woman to clean the same. Then he
stuffed fowl with lots of snow but developed dangerous disease, pneumonia.
During the process, he felt so ill that he was unable to get well again. Rather he
went to the Earle of Arundel's house at Highgate where he was put into a damp
cloth. Due to the cold, he died of suffocation. At Bacons funeral, 30 great minds
praised him a lot, which were later published as a collection in Latin.