Even those very far from science have once heard of the English philosopher and illuminator Francis Bacon. Almost half a millennium has elapsed since his writing the remarkable works but they are studied up to now, people trying to find in them suggestions and supports for their own contemplations and quests. And that is fair. This thinker is worthy of appreciative memory in the posterity. For, linked to him are not only the reformation of logic and the revision of scientific toolkit but also the making of the culture of rational reconstruction of society.
Another thing is unfair. Behind the mighty figure of Francis, is somewhat lost, moved from the sun his father, Nicholas who possessed no less talents than the son, while as a man he towered not only over him but also over the absolute majority of contemporaries. While Francis tought people by his writings, Nicholas by his life itself: his giant person served an example for all around him – how, having attained at the social heights, to keep dignity and inner freedom, not to turn into a slave of the conventionalities.
A man of vast knowledge and unspotted integrity, Nicholas was an outstanding connoisseur in law fast-forwarding in his state carrier. In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, he got the post of lord keeper of the great seal which he held over twenty years. Nevertheless his behavior was notable for striking modesty and prudence. There was no tiny token of arrogation or swagger in it.
Already in the grade of great officer, Nicholas built a smallish house where lived together with his family. When the queen once visited him she was very astonished at what opened before her eyes. The point was not merely that the house, in her opinion, did not match the status of its owner. Was evident the funny dissonance between the size of the building and his heavy build and corpulence.
“Not so, madam”, Nicholas answered, “your Majesty has magnified me to the extent that I got too great for it.”
The quick wit, tenacious memory and splendid eloquence of Lord Bacon became legendary. The soundness of his judgment in itself was believed to be a pillar of the State. However he remained respectful to people around him, irrespective of the place they were taking in the social hierarchy, and never had been burdening them with his angry and irritation. The most they could hear from him were light reproach or bitter irony interspersed with a good deal of wit which, on one hand, favored his thoughts to better reach the addressees and, on the other, cushioned the blows to their personalities.
Even the Nicholas’ death itself serves a clear evidence of his ataraxy and wisdom, obedience to the unavoidable, and regard for those remaining.
In one of days of 1579, Lord Bacon had decided to have a shave. As the weather was sultry he asked the barber to open the window by which he had been sitting. Immediately after that had finished his work, Nicholas got out like a light. A strong current of fresh air was blowing upon him, and on awakening, he found himself in a fever.
“Then”, the lord concluded philosophically, “your civility has ended off my life.”
In a few days, Nicholas Bacon died, with the story of his life and youngest son Francis left for the posterity’s edification .