also the case in the simple instance of mere changes in the temperature
of bodies; different bodies require different degrees of heat to be
communicated, or thrown into them, in order to produce the same increase
of sensible temperature. This was the other great result to which we
referred at first as the discovery of Dr. Black: he designated this
peculiarity in bodies their _capacity for heat_; a term sufficiently
expressive, but which is now more usually exchanged for the term
_specific heat_. The establishment of the accurate values of this
capacity or specific heat, in a number of different bodies, has afforded
a wide field of research for subsequent experiments. It has been
sometimes said that to Dr. Black’s discovery of latent heat we owe the
steam-engine. This is, we think, a mistaken view of the matter. That
heat will generate steam, and cold condense it, are facts that were well
known, independently of the doctrine of latent heat; though that
doctrine undoubtedly gives the explanation of them. The knowledge of
these facts might therefore have been practically applied in the
construction of the steam-engine, had Dr. Black’s discovery never been
made. It is at the same time perfectly true, that this theory supplies
us with accurate data dependent on the quantity of heat necessary to be
communicated, on which calculation must proceed: and it is on the basis
of such exact investigation, that the great improvements in the
application of steam have been brought about.
To return however to our narrative: though, as we have said, the leading
ideas of these discoveries had occurred to the author probably about the
year 1757, yet it was not till a few years afterwards that he had fully
made out his theory. The discovery of specific heat was announced in
1760; and that of latent heat, with all the details of its experimental
proof, was laid before a literary society in Glasgow, in a paper read
April 23, 1762. After this period a full account of both subjects was
regularly introduced by the author into his courses of lectures. He did
not himself follow out the train of experimental research to which he
had opened the way, but his friends and disciples entered largely upon
the investigation of those valuable data, the numerical values
expressing the quantities of latent heat and specific heat belonging to
different substances.
In 1766, Dr. Cullen having been promoted to the chair of medicine, Dr.
Black, again treading in the steps of his revered friend and instructor,
was called from Glasgow to the professorship of chemistry at Edinburgh.
He was thus placed in a more conspicuous position, and the fame of the
Edinburgh school was not a little raised by his accession to it.
Students flocked from all quarters in increasing numbers, and Dr. Black
now devoted himself entirely to perfecting his chemical lectures.
In reference to this period, it has been sometimes remarked as singular,
that while chemical science was beginning to make those rapid strides by
which its modern advance has been so much accelerated, Dr. Black should
have been contented to go on merely as an able expositor and illustrator
of what others were doing, without himself taking any share in their
labours. Perhaps it might be difficult to assign any better reasons for
this conduct than are to be found in the peculiar disposition of the
individual, though it has been alleged that he was actuated by a dread
of criticism; this, indeed, can only be regarded as itself an indication
of a morbid sensitiveness of mind, of which, unhappily, we have other
instances in individuals of the highest philosophical genius; and which
has probably, in more than one instance, deprived the world of services
which would have been invaluable in the cause of science. Be this as it
may, Dr. Black, though he continued by constant revisions and additions
to make his lectures amply keep pace with the discoveries of the day,
yet himself produced during this period only two papers, and those of
minor importance: one appeared in the Philosophical Transactions for
1774, in which he assigned the reason why water which has been boiled
freezes more easily than that which has not, viz., the expulsion of the
air: another was inserted in the second volume of the Edinburgh
Transactions, on the analysis of the water from the Geysers of Iceland.
It appears from an anecdote related on good authority, (see Edinburgh
Encyclopædia, article, Dr. Black) that so early as 1766, when the low
specific gravity of hydrogen as discovered by Mr. Cavendish had been
announced, the idea of employing it for balloons occurred to Dr. Black;
and that he actually exhibited a small one, to the extreme astonishment
of a party of friends. It was not till 1782 Montgolfier claimed the
merit of originating this idea.
Dr. Black never enjoyed very robust health, but by great care and
attention he managed to the best advantage a constitution naturally
delicate, pursuing, especially towards the latter part of his life, an
extremely regular and abstemious mode of living. About 1793 his strength
began to fail. In 1796 he became unequal to the sole discharge of his
duties as a lecturer, and employed an assistant. In the following year
he was compelled to relinquish lecturing altogether. Though in great
weakness, he was able by unremitting precautions to preserve a
considerable share of general health. He had always expressed a hope
that he might be spared the distress of a long illness; and, in
accordance with this wish, while sitting at table partaking of his usual
simple fare, he expired November 26, 1799, in so tranquil a manner, that
a cup of milk which he had placed on his knee remained unspilt; and it
was some time before his servant perceived that life was extinct.
The cast and character of Dr. Black’s mind is illustrated by the whole
nature and course of his labours and investigations. Methodical
precision and originality of thought were the qualities which
pre-eminently distinguished him. In framing general conclusions he was
peculiarly cautious and exact. It is clear that he possessed abilities
which might have placed him much higher in the rank of original
discoverers, had not an unfortunate backwardness, perhaps the result of
natural timidity or indolence, perhaps of weak health and incessant
employment, withheld him from pushing his researches to a greater
extent, and even from asserting his just claims to what he had done,
which was in some instances wrongfully appropriated by others. Some
charges of this nature have been brought against Lavoisier, in reference
to the discovery of the nature of alkalies; but in his writings
Lavoisier certainly does ample justice to Black.
In all the best and most substantial qualifications of a teacher and
lecturer, he has seldom been surpassed. His method was luminous and
natural; his style unadorned, but beautifully perspicuous; his
experimental illustrations completely satisfactory and convincing, yet
always of the simplest possible kind. He manifested a great dislike to
any unnecessary parade of apparatus, and the exhibition of showy and
striking, but useless phenomena. He aimed not at display and popular
fame, but to arrive at the best means of interesting, instructing, and
enlightening his pupils. He led them by his own example pre-eminently to
value accuracy in the establishment of facts, caution in deducing
general conclusions, and a resolute adherence to the results derived
from experiment and induction.
Dr. Black’s moral and social character was exactly such as harmonized
with his mental endowments. He was moderate in his desires, temperate in
his enjoyments, benevolent and warm in his affections. He manifested a
strong love of order, propriety, and decorum, and a total absence of
jealousy against scientific rivals, or envy of their fame. His
disposition was at once serious and cheerful; and he was distinguished
by a happy equanimity of temper. He was sometimes accused of
penuriousness: but the charge is wholly denied by his relative, Dr.
Ferguson; and his intimate friend, Professor Robison, has related many
instances of his conduct totally incompatible with such a disposition.
In person he was rather above the middle height; of a slender figure,
with a mild and engaging countenance.
After Dr. Black’s death his manuscript lectures were revised and
published by Professor Robison, in two quarto volumes, in 1803. The
first and most important portion of the work is devoted to the subject
of heat; and contains the development of the author’s original
researches to which we have referred. The simplicity of style, the
admirable taste and propriety of language, and the perspicuous and
luminous method of illustration, cannot be too highly praised. With
respect to the other portion, embracing the details of chemistry
properly so called, though the same commendation as to the manner must
be bestowed, the matter, which was not less excellent for the time at
which the lectures were delivered, was yet, at the period of the
publication, necessarily much behind the advance of discovery.
[Illustration:
_Engraved by J. Posselwhite._
LORD BACON.
_From a Print by J. Houbraken 1738._
Under the Superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful
Knowledge.
_London, Published by Charles Knight & C^o. Ludgate Street._
]
[Illustration]
LORD BACON.
Among the many great names which England boasts of, few have such claims
to her gratitude as that of FRANCIS BACON. For besides the unparalleled
services which science received from him, to his _original_ genius we
may indirectly ascribe many, if not most, of those large improvements in
the arts of life which have raised this nation to the highest place
among the countries of the world.
Francis Bacon was the second son, by a second marriage, of Sir Nicholas
Bacon, twenty years Keeper of the Great Seal in the reign of Elizabeth,
and Anne, daughter of Sir Anthony Cook, the preceptor of Edward the
Sixth. He was born at York House or Place, in the Strand, January 22,
1561. In 1573 he was entered of Trinity College, Cambridge. Here he
speedily acquired more than the ordinary learning of the age, becoming
deeply versed in classical literature. Although taught to look up to
Aristotle as to a writer whom it was almost heresy to question, yet at
that early age he began to perceive where his philosophy failed, and to
conceive the reorganization of a purer and better system. “His
exceptions against that great philosopher not being founded on the
worthlessness of the author, to whom he would ascribe all high
attributes, but for the unfruitfulness of the way; being a philosophy
only for disputations and contentions, but barren in the production of
works for the benefit of the life of man, in which mind he continued to
his dying day.”—(Dr. Rawley’s Life of Bacon.) His intellectual efforts
were ever after bent on working out and declaring these novel views, of
which, through many modifying and expanding minds, we now reap the
fruits.
In 1576 he was entered as a Student in the Society of Gray’s Inn, with
the view of keeping his terms for the bar. Before, however, he commenced
his legal studies, his father sent him to France, in the suite of the
Queen’s Ambassador, Sir Amias Paulet. During his residence abroad he
wrote his first work, which was not intended originally for publication,
but was improved and printed after some years. It is called, A short
View of the Present State of Europe. It derives its chief interest from
having been written at the early age of nineteen; but the civil and
political views are sound, and the composition graceful.
In 1579 Sir Nicholas Bacon died, leaving Francis but a small share of
his fortune, in consequence of family circumstances, which we need not
here relate. Finding his private means insufficient for his support, he
returned to England, and commenced the study of the Law, to which he
applied himself with great diligence.
He did not, however, suffer the demands of his profession to interfere
with those pursuits, in which he was fully persuaded that his great
strength lay. Between the ages of twenty and twenty-eight he produced a
work, which he called the Greatest Birth of Time. It was never
published, and is lost in its separate form, but the substance of it
remains in his Instauration.
In 1582 Bacon was called to the bar, and in 1588 was chosen Reader or
Lecturer by the Society of which he was a member, and the same year he
received the only mark of honour conferred upon him in the reign of
Elizabeth, in the title of Counsel Learned in the Law Extraordinary. It
seems strange that Bacon, who was the nephew of the Lord High Treasurer
Burleigh, and cousin of the principal Secretary of State Sir Robert
Cecil, should never have been able to obtain any office in the Court of
Elizabeth. The reason possibly was that he had early attached himself to
the faction of the Earl of Essex, who, though the Queen’s greatest
favourite, was in constant opposition to her ministers. This unfortunate
nobleman exerted himself to the utmost, at the extreme risk of
offending: his testy mistress, to secure for Bacon the place of
Solicitor General, as the first step of legal advancement; but he was
unsuccessful. The ministers declared their belief that Bacon was merely
a theorist, and that his talents were not of a nature fitted for
practical purposes: perhaps there was no small mixture of jealousy in
this declaration. To make some amends to his friend for this
disappointment, Essex gave him an estate (which he afterwards sold at an
under price for 1300_l._) out of his private fortune: one of many
kindnesses which Bacon too ill requited.
In 1592 Bacon published a defence of the government, in answer to a
libel, in consequence of which he received the reversion of the
register’s office to the Star-chamber, which he did not enjoy till
twenty years after. In the Parliament of 1593 he was chosen member for
the county of Middlesex, a proof that his public talents were not
unappreciated by his countrymen. In the House he shone as an orator of
the first class, his speeches were extremely elegant and forcible, and
his wit so well blended with good sense and winning manners, as to
secure to him the favourable attention of that assembly. He was
frequently employed by the government to defend their measures in
Parliament, which he did with consummate prudence, but he still went
unrewarded.
In 1596 Bacon composed, but did not then print, his Maxims of the Law;
and in the year following he published his first edition of Essays, or
Counsels Civil and Moral; the work by which he is best known to the
general reader. In the trial of the Earl of Essex for high treason
(1601) Bacon appeared as counsel for the Crown; and after the execution
of that unfortunate nobleman, the Queen directed him to compose and
publish An Account of the Earl of Essex’s Treasons. His apparent zeal on
this occasion excited the indignation of the people, among whom Essex
was much beloved, and he was obliged to apologize for his conduct, by a
letter to the Earl of Devonshire, one of the firm partisans of Essex.
The death of Elizabeth, which soon followed that of her favourite,
revived Bacon’s hopes of advancement. He applied himself early to obtain
the favour of the new king; and a proclamation, which he drew up on
James’s arrival, though never published, did him great service. He was
introduced to the King at Whitehall, and was knighted, July 23, 1603. In
the following year his services to the court in Parliament, and
elsewhere, were rewarded by the title of King’s Counsel, with a stipend
of forty, and an additional pension of sixty pounds.
But though he seemed in the high road to preferment, Bacon had powerful
enemies to obstruct his advancement. Sir Robert Cecil, son of Lord
Burleigh, created Earl of Salisbury by James I., though Bacon’s cousin
by the maternal side, had always shown himself averse to his kinsman’s
preferment, apparently from jealousy of his uncommon talents. Between
Bacon and the Attorney-General, Sir Edward Coke, there existed a more
violent hostility, arising from various causes. Sir Edward was
successful early, Bacon late, and the power which Coke obtained, he used
to depress his antagonist. They had both been suitors of the rich Lady
Hatton, Lord Burleigh’s grand-daughter, whom Coke married; and, as a
farther exasperation of their enmity, in that celebrated dispute, which
occurred in 1616, between the courts of King’s Bench and Chancery,
“Whether the Chancery, after judgment given in the Courts of Law, was
prohibited from giving relief upon matters arising in equity, which the
judges at law could not determine or relieve,” Bacon had a leading share
in obtaining that decision in favour of the privileges of the Court of
Chancery, which has had so great an influence upon the jurisdiction of
courts.
In 1605 Bacon published his first specimen of The Advancement of
Learning. His view of the service he was doing to science, is shewn in a
letter to Lord Salisbury, sent with a copy of this work, where he says,
that “in this book he was contented to awake better spirits, being
himself like a bell-ringer, who is the first to call others to church.”
The following year he married Alice, the daughter of Benedict Barnham,
alderman, a lady of large fortune, who outlived him many years, and by
whom he had no children. The year 1607 produced him his first solid
success. Lord Salisbury had arisen to such power and confidence with his
master, that he no longer feared the talents of Bacon, and with his
concurrence, if not by his means, Bacon was at length appointed
Solicitor-General, which, besides its future promise, was an office
worth 5000_l._ or 6000_l._ a-year to him in private practice. Though now
a busy man, and constantly engaged in affairs of the Crown, he
nevertheless found time to write and publish his Wisdom of the Ancients,
a work of great elegance and profound learning, but not one to which the
present age owes much. In 1611 he was appointed joint judge of the
Marshal’s court, and immediately afterwards Attorney-General, on the
promotion of Lord Coke to the office of Chief Justice of the King’s
Bench. Bacon did not attach himself to the fortunes of the reigning
favourite Somerset, and when that lord and his countess were brought to
trial for the murder of Sir Thomas Overbury, he had the management of
the case for the Crown, which he so conducted as to keep himself out of
the disgrace into which Coke and others fell with the King, on account
of this critical affair.
He was farther advanced to the office of Lord Keeper in March, 1617, on
the resignation of the Lord Chancellor Viscount Brackley, and the same
year sat at the head of the council-board, as manager of the King’s
affairs, during the absence of the monarch and his new favourite
Buckingham in Scotland. On the return of the King, Bacon was made Lord
High Chancellor, Jan. 4, 1618; and in July following he was created
Baron of Verulam. In 1620 he sent to the King his Novum Organum, or ‘New
Instrument of Logic, better calculated for the real progress of science
than that of Aristotle.’
The next year Bacon received the title of Viscount St. Albans, and
opened the Parliament of February, 1621, the most honoured, and among
the most powerful subjects of the realm. But this parliament was fatal
to him. James had not called this assembly together for more than ten
years, except for the short session of two months in 1614, and during
that period had been subsisting on the unconstitutional resources of
benevolences, and the sale of monopolies. Almost the first act of this
parliament was the inquiry into abuses, and more particularly those of
the courts of justice, and the sale of patents. As all patents had to
pass the seal, it was natural that the conduct of the Lord Keeper should
be looked into, and this led to farther inquiry concerning the
administration of justice in the Chancellor’s court. The chairman of a
committee appointed to conduct this inquiry, brought up two charges of
bribery against Bacon. This alarmed James and his favourite, and the
parliament was adjourned for three weeks, in the hope that the affair
would blow over. But during this recess, twenty-two cases of bribery
were charged upon the Chancellor, and a deputation from the lower House
waited on him to know whether he would confess or refute them. In a few
days he chose to make confession, and threw himself on the mercy of his
peers. His confession was not thought ample enough, and too extenuatory;
and he was obliged to make one still more full, in writing, upon which a
deputation of thirteen Lords was sent to him, to know whether it were
really his. His answer to them was, “My Lords, it is my act, my hand, my
heart; I beseech your Lordships to be merciful to a broken reed.” At the
petition of the Peers, the seals were sequestrated, Bacon was deprived
of his speakership and of his seat in Parliament, and farther was fined
40,000_l._, sentenced to imprisonment during the King’s pleasure,
debarred from entering the verge of the Court, and declared incapable of
holding any office in future. This penalty was considerably mitigated by
James, who confined him but for a short space in the Tower, allowed him
to make over the fine to assignees of his own choosing, and, for the
settling of his affairs, gave him leave to reside for some time within
the verge of the Court. After some years, at the earnest solicitation of
Bacon, “that his royal master would be pleased to wipe out his disgrace
from the page of history by his princely pardon,” he received the favour
he so much desired.
At the age of sixty-one, Bacon retired to his country-seat at
Gorhambury, having an income of about 2500_l._ His debts amounted to
about 30,000_l._, of which he liquidated a third before his death.