Francis Bacon and his secret society - Grand Lodge of Colorado

AND HIS SECRET SOCIETY. 15
their very graves comply with the rules of the section
society to which they belonged.
of the
16. It is not concluded, from the evidence which has been
collected, that Bacon originated secret societies, or that there
were no religious fraternities or trade guilds, before his time,
possessing secrets which they kept for mutual help and protection.
On the contrary, all evidence goes to show that such institutions
did exist, in a rude and inefficient condition; that in all
probability Sir Nicholas Bacon and others had conceived a
thought of attempting to consolidate or erect some such society,
for the purpose of reviving learning, and of promoting unity in
religion. But it remained for the genius, energy, and untiring
devotion of Francis Bacon to accomplish these things, and he
seems to have been peculiarly educated for the purpose.
Throwing the whole weight of his gigantic intellect and the
enthusiasm of " that great heart of his " * into the work of
methodising and perfecting previous weak and disjointed
schemes, he built up, step by step, stone by stone, the great
fabric of learning, the " Solomon's House " which his descendants
have kept in repair, and to which the " future ages " have
made additions in some departments.
It was Bacon who designed the exquisite machinery or
" engine " which still exists for the reception, arrangement,
digestion, and wide-spread distribution of knowledge. It was
he who, finding the new truth in vain trying to struggle up in a
thankless soil, and the learning of the ancients smothered and
buried in the dust of oblivion, set himself the task of raking and
digging up and setting it forth again, polished and glorified
with all the lustre of his radiant mind. The organisation or
" method of transmission " which he established was such as to
ensure that never again, so long as the world endured, should
the lamp of tradition, the light of truth, be darkened or extinguished";
but that, continually trimmed and replenished with
the oil of learning, it should be kept alight, a little candle in a
i
Dr. Rawlev's Life of Bacon.