The Mystery of Francis Bacon

Francis Bacon at 9 Years of Age. From the bust at Gorhambury.
But such is the infelicity and unhappy disposition of the human mind in the course of invention that it first distrusts and then despises itself: first will not believe that any such thing can be found out; and when it is found out, cannot understand how the world should have missed it so long.
— Novum Organum, Chap. CX.

Is there a mystery connected with the life of Francis Bacon? The average student of history or literature will unhesitatingly reply in the negative, perhaps qualifying his answer by adding:—Unless it be a mystery that a man with such magnificent intellectual attainments could have fallen so low as to prove a faithless friend to a generous benefactor in the hour of his trial, and, upon being raised to one of the highest positions of honour and influence in the State, to become a corrupt public servant and a receiver of bribes to pervert justice.—It is one of the most remarkable circumstances to be found in the history of any country that a man admittedly pre-eminent in his intellectual powers, spoken of by his contemporaries in the highest terms for his virtues and his goodness, should, in subsequent ages, be held up to obloquy and scorn and seldom be referred to except as an example of a corrupt judge, a standing warning to those who must take heed how they stand lest they fall. Truly the treatment which Francis Bacon has received confirms the truth of the aphorism, The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones.
In the following pages it is sought to establish what may be termed one of these extravagant theories. How far this attempt is successful, it is for the reader to judge. Notwithstanding all that may be said to the contrary, by far the greater part of Francis Bacon's life is unknown. An attempt will be made by the aid of accredited documents and books to represent in a new light his youth and early manhood. It is contended that he deliberately sought to conceal his movements and work, although, at the same time, he left the landmarks by which a diligent student might follow them. In his youth he conceived the idea that the man Francis Bacon should be concealed, and be revealed only by his works. The motto, Mente videbor —by the mind I shall be seen—became the guiding principle of his life.