Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1886-12-16

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mental questions of life, as of truth,
of revenge, of love- Each of these
is practical every day question, and
suggests to the greatness of his own
mind. He lived in high places among
/ great men and dealt with profound
ideas yet it is only through this little
volume of essays that Bacon become
known to the multitude of men.
1t has been we'll remarked that the
essayist does not appear in the early
part of country's history, He
comes along when the country is cul-
tured to considerable extent. He
comes along with habit of mind that
is full of leisure He does not neces-
sarily create all his material but gath
ers it from books which have been
partly digested The passions under
which many write do not bias his
mind and he is full of references and
suggestions. A glance at the mean
ing of the word Essay, in the time
of Bacon, suggests to US the reason Of
the oppressive thought contained in
his essays In those days it simply
meant sketch which the reader was
expected to fill out with material Of
his own choice It was simply frame
in which the mind could be put and
set to thinking.
Bacon's essays do not need correct
ion or explanation, but they need
development. They have profound
scope yet so clear that any ordinary
mind can understand them ? New
ideas and fresh views occur at each
successive reading. The great faculty
of Bacon was judgment and classical
ton. His essays have no pretensions
to any particular philosophy but they
tend to regulate philosophy.
His style is combination of terse-
ness and clearness> all embellishments
are discarded. Every word with a
precise meaning has been weighed be-
fore entering the sequence of the dis
course. He writes bold and assertive
without the least fear of contradiction
and quickly passes from one idea to
another.
| The essays show prominant person
atty the, movements of strong indie
pendant self thinking mind Many of
his sentences give pleasure because
they are apt and unexpected. He is
almost so compact as to be burdensome.
One of the marvels of his essays is the
amount Of matter he has crowded into
such a small space. His tone and
thoughts are the highest. One of his
leading aims is to set men on the path
of rectitude, to teach them how to
avoid the evils and secure the greatest
good in life. Bacon never strikes at
that which is held sacred by men but
rather he is the one who would eradi-
cate superstition and assuage the fears
of men.
Though Bacon changes the subject
of his pen yet the same vigorous in
tellect guides it and the same mental
amount of variety of thought and
the great number of unexpected and
happy illustrations are found prevailing
every subject. The teeming fertiality
of his imagination expressed through
out his essays and expressed in his own
plain and common sense style makes
them all the more valuable and attrac-
tive. The subject of his first essay
is ''truth'' fundamental question of
life since the world began.
"What is truth said testing PLATE
and would not stay for an answer"
By reading the narrative it becomes
very evident that PLATE was not jest
ing, for it seems he was puzzled and
confused walking IN and out Of the
hall of judgement not being able to
construe the force and meaning of the
Saviour language. Bacon may mean
hare rather what is contained in the
word foolish. The main drift of
Pilates question was monarchial and
the Saviour announcing that his king
dom was of truth it is not at all I'M
possible that by this digressiveness from
Pilates view of the question be should
calculate. What do you mean by truth
His idea of truth may be CLEANED from
such expressions as >'to have mans
mind turn on the poles of truth is
heaven" or that ''truth is the sovereign
good of human nature" He attaches
much importance to truth not only its
value in business relations, but the
strong conviction of its value in philo,
sophical and especially in religious in,
qulry
In the sketch on Unity of Reli,
gion." He calls religion the chief
bond of human society. He strikes
at that which distinguishes the chris
tian from the heather religion. The
heather religion consisted rather in
rites and cerem onies than any constant
belief while the christian religion de-
manded belief from the very evidence
of its truth In one sense the chris
tian religion is unit in that they are
all followers of one, but the strange
and seemingly unnatural way in which