Bacon’s essays : dispersed meditations

Bacon’s essays are written on abstract, meditative and thoughtful subjects. In these essays he jostles down his experience of human nature, human mind as well as human life. But the ideas of a particular essay are not logically connected to one another. For this reason his essays are often identified as full of ‘dispersed meditations’.

Bacon describes his essays as ‘dispersed meditations and also as brief notes set down rather significantly than curiously’. Here the word ‘curiosity’ has been used in the sense of ‘elaborately’.

Bacon’s essays are dispersed meditations in two senses.

First, the ideas of a particular essay are not developed systematically: it seems that having got any idea in his mind from his observation on any 'text' or context, he quickly notes it down briefly.

        Second, the sentences are not logically connected to one another: there is hardly any structural unity and cohesive devices which are very essential among sentences for a well organized paragraph. There is no detailed discussion of the subjects- the sentences are often read like maxims having brevity and condensation of thought, even conjunctions and other logical connections are sometimes left out. Thus the essays are not ‘well-knitted’ compositions.

Of course there is no digression from the central subject of the essays. However, the examples of Bacon’s dispersed meditations are found especially in his earlier essays.

         

‘Of Studies’ is a most suitable example of those essays that are dispersed meditations and contain a string of aphorisms and maxims. Bacon starts the essay with ‘studies serve for delight, for ornament and for ability’ and gives a little explanation in the next sentence. After that, just after discussing the functions of ‘expert men’ and ‘learned’ men, he, without using any sentence connector, shifts to another idea in the following sentence –

“To spend too much time in studies is sloth; to use them too much for ornament, is affection; to make judgment wholly by their rules is humor of a scholar.’’

Just after saying, in the next sentence, of our natural abilities, of studies and of experiences, he says an aphoristic sentence-

“Crafty men contemn studies, simple men admire them, and wise men use them:……..’’

Indeed, there is no explicit relation between these two sentences.

In the next three sentences he talks of why to read, what books to read and how to read; and says that summarized books are insipid, tasteless, and give no pleasure- ‘else distilled books are like common distilled water, flashy things’. But there is no logical connection among these sentences. Rather, he writes of another idea- function of reading, conversation and in the next sentence- “Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man.’ So, these sentences lack structural unity and development of ideas.

However we meet a sentence linker in the next sentence that explains the precious maxim like sentence- he begins the sentence with,

          ‘And therefore………………………’   

But again he provides us an example of dispersed meditation in the very next sentence expressing functions of different sorts of subjects –

         

“Histories make men wise; poets witty; the mathematics subtle; natural philosophy deep; moral grave; logical and rhetoric able to contend.”

In the essay ‘Of Truth’, we get some ideas, regarding truth, just jumbled together, but they do not develop from one another as should be in a logically developed essay.

Here Bacon expresses that the standard of truth in religions, philosophical and moral spheres changes from time to time; discusses different sorts of men’s love for lie; compares truth and lie from human observation, grants the high value of truth and elaborates the idea by referring to Gods gifts of reason to man. He ends the essay with a warring that the wickedness of falsehood and breach of faith will be duly punished on Judgment Day. We can mention just one of the examples of dispersed meditation in statement- Bacon begins the essay with a question –

‘What is Truth? Said jestling Pilate; and would not stay for an answer.’

Furthermore, he abruptly begins the next sentence not showing any logical relation between the two-

“Certainly there be that delight in giddiness and count it a bondage to fix a belief;”

The essay ‘of Marriage and Single Life’ provides us a number of ideas regarding advantages, disadvantages, and features of both married life and single life. Of course, all the ideas are centred to the topic. But they do not come one after another in a systematic order but in haphazard order. For example, Bacon says –

“It is one of the best bonds both of chastity and obedience in the wife, if she thinks her husband wise; which she will never do if she finds him jealous.”

Then he says –

          “Wives are young men’s mistress;

            Companions for middle age;

            And old men’s nurses”

In the first sentence Bacon speaks of the wifes obedience and faith in the husband, while, in the second sentence he distinguishes the relation between the husband and the wife’s in different ages. Hence the second one does not develop from the first one, except from the central topic.

  

“To spend too much time in studies is sloth; to use them too much for ornament, is affection; to make judgment wholly by their rules is humour of a scholar.’’

Just after saying, in the next sentence, of our natural abilities, of studies and of experiences, he says an aphoristic sentence-

          “Crafty men contemn studies, simple men admire them, and wise men use them:……..’’

There is no explicit relation between the two sentences.

In the next three sentences he talks of why to read, what books to read and how to read ; and says that summarized books are insipid, tasteless, and give no pleasure-

         

‘else distilled books are like common distilled water, flashy things’

But there is no logical connection among these sentences. Rather, he writes another idea function of reading, conversation and in the next sentence-

         

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

So, these sentences lack structural unity and development of ideas.

However we meet a sentence linker in the next sentence that explains the precious maxim like sentence- he begins the sentence with,

          ‘And therefore………………………’   

But again he provides us an example of dispersed meditation in the very next sentence expressing functions of different sorts of subjects –

         

“Histories make men wise; poets witty; the mathematics subtle; natural philosophy deep; moral grave; logical and rhetoric able to contend.”

In the essay ‘of Truth’ we get some ideas, regarding truth, just jumbled together, but they do not grow from one another as should be in a logically developed essay.

Here Bacon expresses that the standard of truth in religions, philosophical and moral spheres changes from time to time; discusses different sorts of men’s love for lie; compares truth and lie from human observation, grants the high value of truth and elaborates the idea by referring to Gods gifts of reason to man. He ends the essay with a warring that the wickedness of falsehood and breach of faith will be duly punished on Judgment Day.

We should mention just one of the examples of dispersed meditation in statement-

Bacon begins the essay with –

         

‘what is Truth? Said jestling Pilate; and would not stay for an answer.’

But abruptly begins the next sentence not showing any logical relation between the two-

         

Certainly there be that delight in giddiness and count it a bondage to fix a 

belief;’

 

The essay ‘of Marriage and Single life’ provides us a number of ideas regarding advantages, disadvantages, and features of both married life and single life. Of course, all the ideas are centred to the topic. But they do not come one after another in systematic order but in haphazard order.

For example, Bacon says –

          “It is one of the best bonds both of chastity and obedience in the wife, if she thinks her husband wise; which she will never do if she finds him jealous.”

Then he says –

          “Wives are young men’s mistress;

            Companions for middle age;

            And old men’s nurses”

In the first sentence Bacon speaks of the wife's obedience and faith in the husband, while, in the second sentence he distinguishes the relation between the husband and the wife’s in different ages. Hence the second one does not grow from the first one, except from the central topic.