Francis Bacon and his secret society - Grand Lodge of Colorado

220 FRANCIS BACON
ing, no less than in his body. And I have known some, of no
mean parts, that have professed to make use of their note-books
when they have risen from table. " l
Both the matter and the manner of John Seidell's " Table
Talk " assure us that this and several other similar books are
merely transcripts of such hasty notes of words which dropped
from Bacon's lips, reproduced as accurately as possible, and
treasured up for the benefit of posterity by his loving friends.
To look a little into the rules of the Rosicross brethren, Bacon's
" Sons of Science, " and of whom we believe him to have been
the " Iinperator " or supreme head :
Bales 1, 13 and 15 help us to grasp the possibility of Bacon's
having produced the enormous quantity of books which will
surely, in the future ages, be claimed for him, and which can b3
proved, by all that has hitherto passed as conclusive evidence
with regard to other works, to be the work of one author.
Rules 2, 10, 11, 12 and 14 suffice to answer the oft-repeated
query:
Why did not Bacon acknowledge his own works? or why
did not his friends vindicate his claim to them ?
friends, had sworn solemnly to
for a period of one hundred years.
He, as well as his
keep the secrets of the society
Bales 3, 10 and 11 enible us to reconcile many difficulties as
to the authorship of certain works. For instance, in the anthology
entitled "England's Helicon," there are poems which
have, at different times, borne two, three or even four different
signatures.
If the Rosicrucian publications were not, as a rule, to
bear the name of the author, and if the feigned names of the
brethren were to be frequently changed, confusion and mystification
as to the true author would inevitably be produced.
It would be impossible to draw any irrefutable conclusions as to
the date and sometimes as to the aim of the works in question,
and this, doubtless, was precisely what the secret society
desired.
i It seems possible that traditions of such delightful meals as Dr. Rawley
here records, and in which Bacon delighted " to draw a man on, and allure him
to speak upon such a subject as wherein, he wis peculiar/// skilful," may have taken
place at the " Mermaid," where the chief wits of the day are said to have
enjoyed their " wit combats."