vili PREFACE,
further proof were wanting, it is supplied in abundance by the two appendages to the Opus il/ajus which were sent by Bacon to Pope Clement IV within a few months of the dispatch of the principal work, published by Professor Brewer in 1859, in the Rolls Series, as Opera fnedita, Special mention is made in the Opus Aftuus (Brewer, p. 315) of passages of this seventh section which the author regarded as of special im- portance. In the Ofus 7erécune (Brewer, pp. 48-52), a brief account is given of cach of the six divisions of which it consisted.
Dr. Ingram’s paper was carefully studied by Victor Cousin, whe had already devoted much time to the study of Bacon’s unpublished works. He remarked upon it (Yournal des Savauts, 1859, p. 717), ‘ Nous croyons qu'il n’y a pas d’exemple dans l'histoire litté- raire d'une erreur semblable 4 celle de Jebb. Elle est vraiment étonnante, mais elle est incontestable’ And in truth the omission is of much greater signifi- eance than the mere loss of Bacon's opinions on a subject of importance would imply. Throughout the Opus Alajus there is an orderly arrangement of the subject-matter formed with a definite purpose, and leading up to a central theme, the consolidation of the Catholic faith as the supreme agency for the civiliza- tion and ennoblement of mankind. Fer this end a complete renovation and reorganization of man’s intellectual forces was needed. After a brief exposition of the four principal impediments to wisdoam—autho- rity, habit, prejudice, and false conceit of knowledge— Bacon proceeds in his second part to explain the inseparable connexion of philosophy with the highest truths of religion, In primaeval ages both were entrusted to the patriarchs. Subsequently, while the
