Bach died of apoplexy on the 28th of July 1750. His loss was deplored as
that of one of the greatest organists and clavier players of his time. Of
his compositions comparatively little was known. At his death his MS. works
were divided amongst his sons, and many of them have been lost; only a
small fraction of his greater works was recovered when, after the lapse of
nearly a century, the verdict of his neglectful posterity was reversed by
the modern upholders of polyphonic art. Even now some important works are
still apparently irrecoverable.

[Sidenote: Work and influence.]

The rediscovery of Bach is closely connected with the name of Mendelssohn,
who was amongst the first to proclaim by word and deed the powers of a
genius too gigantic to be grasped by three generations. By the enthusiastic
endeavours of Mendelssohn, Schumann and others, and in England still
earlier by the performances and publications of Wesley and Crotch, the
circle of Bach's worshippers rapidly increased. In 1850, a century after
his death, a society was started for the correct publication of all Bach's
remaining works. Robert Franz, the great song-writer, did good service in
arranging some of Bach's finest works for modern performance, until the
experience of a purer scholarship could prove not only the possibility but
the incomparably greater beauty of a strict adherence to Bach's own
scoring. The Porson of Bach-scholarship, however, is Wilhelm Rust (grandson
of the interesting composer of that name who wrote polyphonic suites and
fantasias early in the 19th century). During the fourteen years of his
editorship of the _Bach-Gesellschaft_ he displayed a steadily increasing
insight into Bach's style which has never since been rivalled. In more than
one case he has restored harmonies of priceless value from incomplete
texts, by means of research and reasoning which he sums up in a modest
footnote that reads as something self-evident. His prefaces to the
_Bach-Gesellschaft_ volumes are perhaps the most valuable contributions to
the criticism of 18th-century music ever written, Spitta's great biography
not excepted.

[v.03 p.0126] Bach's importance in the history of music cannot be
exaggerated. His art, neglected as old-fashioned and crabbed by his younger
contemporaries, survived only in certain limited aspects as the subject of
a desultory and unintelligent academic study, until its re-discovery by
Mendelssohn. And yet, whatever disguise may have been foisted on it by
corrupt traditions and ignorance of its idioms, whenever any fragment of it
gained the inner ear of a true composer the effect on the history of music
was immediate and profound. Indeed his influence is by no means chiefly
manifested in the time when his work became known in its larger aspects,
though the Bach-revival is very obviously connected with certain tendencies
in the "Romantic" movement in music. But, however clear we may consider
Bach's claim to the title of "the first of Romanticists," the full
influence of his whole work has hardly yet begun to show itself. Schumann
died before even such enthusiasts as the editors of the _Bach-Gesellschaft_
began to find more beauty than extravagance in Bach's ordinary musical
language (see, for example, Hauptmann's letters _passim_, _The Letters of a
Leipzig Cantor_, trans. by A. D. Coleridge, London, Novello, Ewer, 1892),
or, indeed, to grasp the main features of his designs.[3] The labours of
the _Bach-Gesellschaft_ have occupied more than fifty years, during which
about four-fifths of Bach's choral works have been published for the first
time; and it would be surprising if another fifty years sufficed to make
these adequately known to the world at large. It is difficult to make an
anthology of such bulky works as church-cantatas, nor does an anthology
meet the purpose where the whole work so constantly attains that excellence
for which the anthologist seeks. Except for practical difficulties (as when
Bach writes for obsolete instruments) the only reason why some cantatas are
better known than others is that a beginning must be made somewhere.
Indeed, a cantata was recently selected, on the ground of its popularity,
for a choral competition in a small English country town the year before it
was performed as a novelty in Berlin!

It is clear, then, that the influence of Bach's art as an understood whole
is still undeveloped. In the past history of music his part was hardly
suspected except by the great composers themselves; and, to any one
contemplating the art of the generation after him, it might have seemed
that both he and Handel had worked in vain. Yet his was the most subtle and
universal force in the development of music, even when his musical language
seemed hopelessly forgotten. Mozart, when rapidly advancing to the height
of his mastery, had but to read the Baron von Swieten's manuscript copies
of the motets and of the _Wohltemperirtes Klavier_, and his style, quite
apart from his immediate essays in the old art-forms, and apart also from
the influence of his study of Handel, developed a new polyphonic richness
and depth of harmony which steadily increased until his untimely death.
Beethoven studied all the accessible works of Bach profoundly, and
frequently quoted them in his sketch-books, often with a direct bearing on
his own works. His rendering of the _Wohltemperirtes Klavier_ is said to be
recorded in the marks of expression and _tempo_ given in Czerny's edition;
and if that record is true, Beethoven must have been completely in the dark
as to Bach's meaning in many important respects; but art is full of such
illustrations of the way in which great minds influence each other in spite
of every barrier which diversity of language and time can set. Beethoven's
great Thirty-three Variations on a Waltz by Diabelli were actually
described in the publisher's puff as worthy of their kinship with the
"Goldberg Variations" of Bach; and that kinship is revealed in its truest
light by a comparison between Beethoven's 31st variation and Bach's 25th;
for here, just where the resemblance is most obvious, each composer utters
his most intimate expression of feeling.

In the same way, Chopin is nowhere more characteristic than where he shows
his love of the _Wohltemperirtes Klavier_ in his Études and Preludes; and
so subtle is the influence of polyphonic style even over a writer so little
apt to make direct use of it as Chopin, that one of Schumann's few
plagiarisms occurs in his use of a phrase from Chopin's F minor Étude
(written for the _Méthode des méthodes_) as the subject of a fugue (Op. 72,
No. 3). And, apart from fugues, which Schumann cultivated assiduously at a
late stage in his career, the influence of Bach pervades the texture and
rhythm of his work in more ways than can easily be followed.

In a more external, but not less significant way, the _Passion according to
St Matthew_ made its mark on Mendelssohn from the time when he discovered
it at the age of twelve, and suggested to him many features in the general
design of oratorios, by means of which he rescued that branch of art from
the operatic influences that ruined Beethoven's _Mount of Olives_. Without
the example of Bach, Wagner's schemes of _Leitmotif_ would never in his
lifetime have become woven into that close polyphonic texture which secures
for his music a flow as continuous as that of drama itself:--and intimately
connected with this is the whole subject of Wagner's harmonization, which
in many of its boldest characteristics was foreshadowed by Bach. A close
study of the texture of Brahms's work shows that he develops Bach's and
Beethoven's artistic devices _pari passu_, and that the result is a
complete unification of that opposition between polyphony and form which in
the infancy of the sonata (as in every transitional stage in musical
history) threatened to wreck the art as a false antithesis wrecks a
philosophy. Perhaps the only great composers who escaped the direct
influence of Bach are Gluck and Berlioz. Even Gluck reproduced in every
detail of harmony and figure the first twelve bars of the _Gigue_ of Bach's
B flat Clavier-Partita in the aria "Je t'implore et je tremble" in
_Iphigénie en Tauride_. But plagiarism, however unconscious, is a very
different thing from that profound indebtedness which makes a great man
attain his truest originality; and Gluck's training practically deprived
him of Bach's direct influence, useful as that would have been to the
attainment of his aims in harmonic and choral expression. The indirect
influence no one could escape, for whatever in modern music is not
traceable to Sebastian Bach is traceable to his sons, who were encouraged
by their father in the cultivation of those infant art-forms which were so
soon to dazzle the world into the belief that his own work was obsolete.

Bach's place in music is thus far higher than that of a reformer, or even
of an inventor of new forms. He is a spectator of all musical time and
existence, to whom it is not of the smallest importance whether a thing be
new or old, so long as it is true. It is doubtful whether even the forms
most peculiar to him (such as the arpeggio-prelude) are of his invention.
Yet he left no form as he found it,--not even that most conventional of
all, the Da Capo Aria, which he did not outwardly alter in the least. On
the other hand, with every form he touched he said the last word. All the
material that could be assimilated into a mature art he vitalized in his
own way, and he had no imitators. The language of music changed at his
death, and his influence became all-pervading just because he was not the
prophet of the new art, but an unbiassed seeker of truth. Whether so great
a man becomes "progressive" or "reactionary" depends on the artistic
resources of his time. He will always work at the kind of art that is most
complete and consistent in all its aspects. The same spirit of truthfulness
that makes Sebastian Bach hold himself aloof from the progressive art which
he encourages in his sons, drives Beethoven to invent new forms and new
means of expression with every work he writes. Gluck abolished the Da Capo
Aria, because it was unfit for dramatic music. Bach did not abolish it,
because he did not intend to write dramatic music in the strict sense of
the term. Mature musical art in Bach's time could not be dramatic, except
in the loose sense in which the term may be applied to an epic poem.
Dramatic expression, properly so called, can only be attained in music by
the full development of resources that do not blend with those of Bach's
art at all. Meanwhile there are many things unsuitable for the stage which
are nevertheless valuable on purely musical grounds; and the Da Capo Aria
was one. Bach [v.03 p.0127] developed it in a great variety of ways, while
retaining even the minor details of what in other hands had long before
become its conventional form; but the one thing he did not do was to abuse
it according to time-honoured custom as the staple form for opera. For that
he had too much dramatic insight. His treatment of other important
art-forms is illustrated in the articles on CONTRAPUNTAL FORMS; CONCERTO
and INSTRUMENTATION. Here we may attempt to illustrate his methods by such
forms and characteristics as cannot be classified under those headings.

[Sidenote: Illustrations of Bach's method.]

1. The toccatas of Buxtehude and his predecessors show how an effective
musical scheme may be suggested by running over the keyboard of an organ as
if to try (_toccare_) the touch, then bursting out into sustained and full
harmony, and at last settling down to a fugue. But before Bach no one
seemed able to keep the fugue in motion long enough to make a convincing
climax. Very soon it collapsed and the process of quasi-extemporization
began again, to culminate in a new fugue which often gave the whole work a
happy but deceptive suggestion of organic unity by being founded on an
ingenious variation of the subject of the first fugue. But in Bach's hands
the toccata becomes one of the noblest and most plastic of forms. The
introductory runs may be disjointed and exaggerated to grotesqueness, until
the gaps between them gradually fill out, and they build themselves up into
grand piles of musical architecture, as in the organ toccata in C; or they
may be worked out on an enormous scale in long and smooth canonic passages
with a definite theme, as in the greatest of all toccatas, that in F for
organ, which is most artistically followed by a fugue unusually quiet for
its size. In one instance, the toccata at the beginning of the E minor
clavier-partita, the introductory runs, though retaining much of the
extempore character from which the form derives its name, take shape in a
highly organized and rounded-off group of contrasted themes. The fugue
follows without change of time, and is developed in so leisurely a manner
that it is fully as long as a normal fugue on a large scale by the time it
reaches what sounds like its central episode. At this point some of the
introductory matter quietly enters, and leads to a recapitulation of the
whole introduction in the key now reached. The obvious sequel would be a
counter-development of the fugue, at least as long as what has gone before,
as in the clavier-toccata in C minor; but Bach does not choose to weary the
hearer and weaken the impression of breadth he has already made here.
Instead, he expands this restatement of the introduction, and makes its
harmonies deliberately return to the fundamental key, and thus in an
astonishingly short time the toccata is brought to a close with the utmost
effect of climax and finality. The same grasp of all the possible meanings
of an artistic device shows itself in his treatment of the other features
of toccata form. With his variety of proportion and flow he has no need to
break off the fugue like earlier composers: but all the old devices by
which the division into sections was managed are turned to account by him,
and almost every toccata has its own scheme of contrasted movements, always
based on the old natural idea of the growth of an organized music from a
chaos of extemporization.

If this is Bach's treatment of a comparatively small and specialized
art-form, it is obviously impossible to reduce the scantiest account of the
rest of his work into practical limits here, nor is there as yet a
sufficient body of accepted criticism of Bach for such an account to carry
further conviction than an expression of individual opinion. Fortunately,
however, Bach was constantly re-arranging his own compositions; indeed he
evidently regards adaptability to fresh environment as the test of his
finest work: and we cannot do better than review the evidence thus given to
us,--evidence which only Beethoven's sketch-books surpass in significance.

2. The successful transplanting of a work of art to a fresh environment is
obviously a convincing test of our definitions of the art-forms concerned,
if only we take care to distinguish between the alterations produced by the
change of environment and those that imply the composer's dissatisfaction
with the original version. In Bach's case this seldom causes much
difficulty; his methods of adaptation are so logical and so varied as to
form a scheme of musical morphology with all the interest and none of the
imperfections of the geological record; and the few cases in which a work
owes its changes to the need for improvement as well as adaptation cause no
confusion, but rather form a link between the pure adaptations and the
numerous revisions of his favourite works without change of medium. There
is, for example, no difficulty in separating the element of corrective
criticism from that of the impulse to give an already successful
composition a larger or more permanent form, in such cases as the
transformations undergone by the movements of the birthday cantata, _Was
mir behagt ist nur die muntre Jagd_, during their distribution among the
church cantatas, _Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt_ and _Man singet mit
Freuden vom Sieg_. The fine bass aria, "Ein Fürst ist seines Landes Pan,"
was obviously ill-proportioned, with its breakneck return to the tonic and
its perfunctory close; and Bach's chief concern in adapting it for its
place as the aria, "Du bist geboren mir zu Gute," in _Also hat Gott_, was
to remedy this defect. On the other hand, the use of the delightful
ritornello for violoncello from the little aria, "Weil die wollenreichen
Heerden," in the birthday cantata, and the restoration of the rejected long
instrumental _fugato_ that was to follow, were obviously brought about by
the conception of the entirely new material for the voice in the famous
aria, "Mein gläubiges Herze." And when the last chorus of _Was mir behagt_
became the first chorus of _Man singet mit Freuden_, it was expanded to the
proportions necessary for a triumphant opening (as distinguished from a
cheerful finale) by the adroit insertion of new material between every
joint in the design. This material, being new, could not produce the effect
of diffuseness that would result from the expansion of the old material
already complete in its simplest form, and thus this instance does not
imply criticism.

A highly interesting example of pure self-criticism is the _Passion
according to St John_, which was twice revised, and each time reduced to a
smaller scale by the omission of some of its finest numbers. The final
result was a work of perfect proportions, and of the rejected numbers one
(a magnificent aria with chorale) remained unused, two were replaced by
finer substitutes, others took shape as one of the most complete and
remarkable of the church cantatas, _Du wahrer Gott_, while the greatest of
the figured chorales was transferred to the _Passion according to St
Matthew_, of which it now crowns the first part.

3. Such instances of self-criticism might be paralleled in the works of
other composers; but there is no parallel in music to Bach's power of
reproducing already perfect works in different media. Here Bach reveals to
us identities in difference which we should otherwise never have suspected.
Of course it is possible to arrange works in different ways without
illustrating any profound identities at all. Handel, for instance,
collected several of his favourite choruses in an enormous instrumental
concerto (see vol. 46 of the _Händel-Gesellschaft_), and the result in the
case of a chorus like "Lift up your Heads" was ridiculous. Bach, however,
does not arrange old work merely to please a court where it was already
admired. He never leaves it in a state of mere make-shift, though he cannot
always attain his evident aim of a new originality. His methods of
orchestration and the profoundly significant identity of certain forms of
chorus with certain concerto forms may better be described under their
proper headings (see articles INSTRUMENTATION and CONCERTO). Here we will
attempt first to show, by illustrations of Bach's power of adding parts to
already complete harmonic and contrapuntal schemes, what was his conception
of the nature of an art-form, and secondly, by means of a short analysis of
cases in which he adapts the same music to different words, to define his
range of expression.

Bach arranged all his violin concertos for clavier, including two that are
lost in the original version. Here his power of providing new and
apparently necessary material for the left hand of the cembalist (or, in
the double concertos, two left [v.03 p.0128] hands) without disturbing the
already complete score, is astonishing; and it fails only in the slow
movements, which he prefers to leave obviously in the condition of an
arrangement rather than to spoil their broad cantabile style by a too
polyphonic bass.

But these cases are insignificant compared with such transformations as
that of the prelude of the E major partita for unaccompanied violin into
the sinfonia for organ obligato accompanied by full orchestra (including
three trumpets and a pair of drums) at the beginning of the church cantata,
_Wir danken dir, Gott._ The original version is perhaps the most complete
and natural of the violin solos, for its arpeggios produce full harmony
without recourse to that constant attempt to play on all four strings at
once, which makes the performance of the polyphonic movements a _tour de
force_ in which steady rhythm is nearly impossible. Yet in the sinfonia its
proportions seem to reveal themselves for the first time. Not a bar is
displaced and not a note of the new accompaniment is unnecessary. The whole
is almost entirely without themes; for even this, the largest of all
arpeggio-preludes, consists essentially of the gradual unfolding of a
scheme of harmony in which rhythmic and melodic organization is reduced to
a minimum. Only in the first line does the incisive initial figure persist
a little longer in the new accompaniment than in the original solo, but on
the last page it reappears and pervades the whole orchestra, even the drums
thundering out its rhythm at the climax where the holding-notes of the
trumpet span the torrent of harmony like a rainbow.

Deeper still is the thought that underlies the transformation of two
movements of the great violin-concerto in D minor (unfortunately lost
except in its splendid arrangement for clavier) into parts of the church
cantata, _Wir müssen durch viel Trübsal in das Reich Gottes eingehen_. In
both movements the violin is replaced by the organ an octave lower, the
orchestral accompaniment remaining where it was. This treatment, with the
addition of new and plaintive parts for wind instruments, turns the already
very long and sombre first movement into an impressive idealization of the
"much tribulation" that lies between us and the kingdom of heaven. The slow
movement is still more solemn, and is arranged in the same way as regards
the instruments; but from the first note to the last a four-part chorus
sings, to the words of the title, a mass of quite new material (except for
the bass and for numerous imitations of the solo-part), treated with every
variety of vocal colouring and a grandeur of conception which is not
dwarfed even by the _Passion according to St Matthew._

4. The four short masses, the Christmas oratorio and the B minor mass,
contain every variety of adaptation from earlier work. The four short
masses are indeed obviously compiled for use in a church where the
orchestra was small. Only four movements in the whole collection are not
traceable to other extant works; all the rest comes from church cantatas.
The adaptations are not always significant; no attempt, for example, is
made in the G minor mass to conceal how unfit for a _Kyrie eleison_ is the
tremendous denunciatory chorus, _Herr, deine Augen sehen nach dem Glauben_.
But the F major and G major masses are very instructive; and the A major
mass, except for the damage done to the instrumentation, is a work that no
one would conceive to be not original. The Kyrie is one of Bach's most
individual utterances and could surely never have fitted any other text,
but we should say the same of the Gloria if we did not possess the church
cantata, _Halt im Gedächtniss_. The Gloria begins with a triumphant
polyphonic chorus accompanied by a spirited symphony for strings. At the
words "et in terra pax" the time changes, and two flutes softly accompany a
single solemn melody in the altos. At the "laudamus te" the material of the
beginning returns, and is interrupted again by the calm slow movement, this
time in another key and for another voice, at the words "adoramus te."
Twice the "laudamus" and "adoramus" alternate in a finely proportioned
design; at last the words "gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam"
are set for the full chorus to the music of the slow movement, the strings
join with the flutes, and this most appropriate setting of those words is
finished. And yet it is quite impossible to regard this as superseding the
last chorus of _Halt im Gedächtniss_. Not one bar or harmony of the
framework differs; yet the two versions are two independent works of art.
In the cantata the beginning is for instruments only; when the slow
movement (here adequately scored for a flute and two _oboe d' amore_)
begins, the basses, permanently separated from the rest of the chorus, sing
"Peace be unto you." The other voices then sing the triumph of the faithful
helped by the Saviour in their battle against the world. The slow movement
is, of course, set for bass alone throughout, and at the last recurrence of
the _allegro_ the bass continues to sing "Friede sei mit euch" through the
rest of the chorus, as if leading the chorus of humanity through strife to
the kingdom of heaven, and then the single voice of peace remains to the
end. Hardly a bar of the chorus-material is on the same themes in the two
versions.

The study of the sources of the Christmas oratorio will complete the
evidence on which we support our estimate of Bach's methods and range of
expression. It is certain that the occasional cantatas, from which all
except the chorale-tune numbers and those set to words from the Bible were
taken, date from shortly before the oratorio; and that Bach, being
incapable of putting inferior work even into birthday odes, rescued it from
oblivion by having the verses for the oratorio numbers built on the same
rhythms as those of the odes in order that he might use those occasional
works as a sketch (see _B.-G._, _Jahr._ xxxiv. preface). Be this as it may,
the alterations are confined to details even where an aria is transposed a
fourth or fifth; but the effect of them is startling. Pleasure (Wollust)
sings a lovely soprano aria to allure Hercules from the paths of Virtue, to
which Hercules replies indignantly with an aria in a spirited staccato
style. It is no doubt a shock to our feelings to find that Wollust's aria
became the Virgin's cradle-song, while Hercules's reply became the alto
aria in which Zion is bidden to "prepare for the Bridegroom." But it does
not warrant the inference that Bach's music lacks definite
characterization: on the contrary, these two arias are the best
demonstration of his profound insight into the possibilities of musical
expression within his range. It is no part of his conception of art that
Wollust should be represented by a Wagnerian Venusberg-music; the obvious
way to represent Pleasure was by writing pleasant music, and with Bach's
ideas of pleasance the step from this to the solemn beauty of the sacred
cradle-song was a mere matter of change of colour and _tempo_. The key is
lowered from B flat to G, the strings are veiled with the tender reed tone
of a group of _oboe d' amore_, the soprano becomes an alto whose notes are,
as it were, surrounded with a nimbus by being doubled in the upper octave
by a flute; and the aria becomes worthy of its new purpose, not by losing a
grossness which it never possessed, but by gaining the richness which
distinguishes the perfect work from the boldly executed draft.

As to the aria of Hercules the change is in manner, while the character, in
the human sense of the term, is quite rightly the same. Both Hercules and
the faithful Christian of the oratorio are renouncing pomps and vanities
for the claims of a higher life; in the one case indignantly, in the other
case inspired "mit zärtlichem Triebe." A change to a _legato_ style, the
substitution of a single _oboe d' amore_ for _tutti_ violins, the addition
of delicate ornaments indicative of a slower pace, and the noble stream of
melody preserve its identity while changing its aspect. Bach's larger
designs react on their changing contents as a cathedral reacts on the
impressiveness of the rites performed within it, or as nature reacts on a
poet's thoughts; and in the same way Bach's melody is greater than any
possible mood of the moment, not because of that vague and negative
pseudo-classical quality misnamed "reserve," but because of its vital
individuality. In their proper directions its changes are limitless;
elsewhere change is inconceivable. No amount of "Umarbeitung" could, for
instance, turn the aria of Hercules into the Virgin's cradle-song, or
Wollust's aria into the exhortation of Zion to prepare for the Bridegroom.
In short, Bach's melodies are characteristic, not like a mask with a set
expression, but like a living face that is the more individual for the
mobility of its features.

[v.03 p.0129] Within these limits, that is, short of dramatic expression in
just so far as "the end of drama is not character but action," there is
nothing good that Bach's art does not express. He has plenty of humour, if
the term may be applied to art which is, so to speak, always literal,--art
in which a jest is a jest and serious things are treated with familiar
directness, and all, whether in jest or earnest, is primarily beautiful. In
_Der Streit zwischen Phoebus und Pan_ Bach answers the critics who censured
him for his pedantry and provincial ignorance of the grand Italian operatic
style, by making effective use of that style in Pan's prize-aria ("Zum
Tanze, zum Sprunge, so wack-ack-ack-ackelt das Herz"), nobly representing
his own style in Phoebus's aria, and promptly caricaturing it in the second
part of Pan's ("Wenn der Ton zu mühsam klingt"). Midas votes for Pan--"denn
nach meinen beiden Ohren singt er unvergleichlich schön." At the word
"Ohren" the violins give a pianissimo "hee-haw" which is fully as witty in
its musical aptness as Mendelssohn's clown-theme in the Overture to the
_Midsummer Night's Dream_; and in the ensuing dialogue their prophecy is
verified. As with many other great artists, Bach's playfulness occasionally
showed itself inconveniently where little things shock little minds. The
hilarious aria, "Ermuntre dich," in the church cantata, _Schmücke dich, o
liebe Seele_, is one instance, and the quaint representation of the words
"dimisit inanes" in the _Magnificat_ is another. This great work, one of
the most terse and profound things Bach ever wrote, contains, among many
other subtle inspirations, one conception with which we may fitly end our
survey, for it strongly suggests Bach himself and the destiny of all that
work which he finished so lovingly, with no prospect of its becoming more
than a family heirloom and a salutary tradition in his Leipzig
choir-school. In the _Magnificat_ he sets the words "quia respexit
humilitatem ancillae suae" to a touchingly appropriate soprano solo
accompanied by his favourite _oboe d'amore_. With the next sentence "ecce
enim beatam me dicent" the tone brightens to a quiet joy, but Bach takes
advantage of the syntax of the Latin in a way that defies translation, and
the sentence is finished by the chorus. "Omnes generationes" seem indeed to
pass before us in the crowded fugue which rises in perpetual stretto, the
incessant entries of its subject now mounting the whole scale, each part a
step higher than the last, and now collecting in unison with a climax of
closeness and volume overwhelming in its impression of time and multitude.

SUMMARY OF BACH'S WORKS

No attempt is here made at chronological sequence. The changes in Bach's
style, though clear and important, are almost impossible to describe in
untechnical language; nor are they of such general interest as to make it
worth while to expand this summary by an attempt to apportion its contents
among the Arnstadt-Mühlhausen period, the Weimar period, the Cöthen period
(chiefly remarkable for instrumental music and comparatively uninteresting
in its easy-going choral music), and the last period (1733-1750) in which,
while the choral works became at once more numerous and more terse (_e.g._
_Jesu, der du meine Seele_) the instrumental music, though never diffuse,
shows an increasing preference for designs on a large scale. (Compare, for
example, the second book of the _Wohltemperirtes Klavier_, 1744, with the
first, 1722.)

I.--CHURCH MUSIC

A. _With Orchestra_

190 church cantatas: besides several which are only known from fragmentary
sets of parts. Of the 190, 40 are for solo voices, about 60 (including some
solo cantatas) are more or less founded on chorales, and the rest, though
almost invariably containing a chorale (for congregational singing), are
practically short oratorios and frequently so entitled by Bach himself.

3 wedding cantatas: the Easter oratorio (exactly like the above-mentioned
oratorio-cantatas; and the Christmas oratorio (six similar cantatas forming
a connected design for performance on six separate days).

The Passions according to St Matthew and St John.

Funeral ode for the Duchess Eberhardine (now known to be arranged from
portions of the lost Passion according to St Mark).

4 short masses (_i.e._ Kyrie and Gloria only) mainly compiled from church
cantatas.

Mass in B minor. Magnificat in D. A few other ecclesiastical Latin
choruses.

B. _Without Orchestra_

5 motets _a capella_ (but there is reason to believe that these, except
_Komm Jesu komm_, were intended to be partly supported by the organ). A
sixth motet has an obligato figured-bass accompaniment.

A few early choruses, mostly turned to account in later works.

A large collection of plain chorales, including several original melodies.

II.--SECULAR VOCAL MUSIC

_Der Streit zwischen Phoebus und Pan_ and _Der zufrieden gestellte Aeolus_;
both entitled _Dramma per Musica_, but showing no more essential connexion
with the stage than Handel's _Acis and Galatea_.

7 solo and 7 choral cantatas, of which latter three were almost entirely
absorbed into the Christmas oratorio and the B minor mass. Of the solo
cantatas two are Italian (one of these being Bach's only developed work for
voice and clavier) and two are burlesque.

Several tunes with clavier bass, almost foreshadowing the modern song.

III.--INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC

A. _Orchestral_

7 clavier concertos arranged from violin concertos and other sources.

3 concertos for two claviers (two being arranged from concertos for two
violins).

2 concertos for three claviers.

The 6 Brandenburg concertos, for various combinations.

2 violin concertos, and a colossal _torso_ of a concerted violin-movement
forming the prelude to a lost church cantata.

1 concerto for two violins.

4 orchestral suites. (The symphony in F in the same volume of the _B. G._
is only an earlier version of the first Brandenburg concerto.)

B. _Chamber Music_

3 sonatas for clavier and flute; a suite and 6 sonatas for clavier and
violin, 3 for clavier and viola da gamba; 2 trios with figured bass; 2
flute-sonatas and a violin suite with figured bass; 6 sonatas (_i.e._ 3
sonatas and 3 partitas) for violin alone; 6 suites for violoncello alone.

C. _Clavier and Organ Music_

Bach's own collections are:--

1. _Das wohltemperirte Klavier_ for clavichord: two books each containing
24 preludes and fugues, one in each major and minor key; with the object of
stimulating tuning by "equal temperament" instead of sacrificing the
euphony of remoter keys to that of the more usual ones.

2. _Klavier-Übung_ (chiefly for harpsichord) in four books comprising: (i.)
15 two-part inventions and 15 three-part symphonies, (ii.) 6 partitas,
(iii.) The "Goldberg" variations. 4 duets, and an important collection of
organ choral-preludes, with the "St Anne" prelude and fugue in E flat,
(iv.) The Italian concerto and French overture.

3. The 6 "French" and 6 "English" suites.

The other clavier works fill two _Jahrgänge_ of the _B.-G._

Bach's collections of organ music are (besides that included in the third
part of the _Klavier-Übung_):--(1) 6 sonatas. (2) 4 groups of 6 organ
preludes and fugues. (3) _Das Orgelbüchlein_, a collection of short
choral-preludes carefully planned--all the blank pages of the autograph
being headed with the titles of the chorales intended for them--but not
half executed. (The projected whole would have been a larger volume than
the _Wohltemperirtes Klavier_). (4) 18 larger chorale-preludes, including
Bach's last composition. (5) The 6 "Schübler" chorales, all arranged from
movements of cantatas.

Besides these there are the three great independent toccatas and the
Passacaglia. The remaining choral-preludes fill one _Jahrgang_, and the
other organ works two more.

D. _Unclassified_

Two important instrumental works cannot be classified, viz. _Das
musikalische Opfer_, the volume of compositions (two great fugues, various
puzzle-canons, and a splendid trio for flute, violin and figured bass) on
the theme given to Bach by Frederick the Great; and _Die Kunst der Fuge_, a
progressive series of fugues on one and the same subject, written in open
score as if entirely abstract studies, but all (except the extreme
contrapuntal _tours de force_) in admirable clavier style and of great
musical value.

IV.--LOST WORKS

A. _Choral_

J. N. Forkel's statement that Bach wrote 5 _Jahrgange_ of church cantatas
(_i.e._ enough to provide one for each Sunday and holy day for five years)
would indicate that some 80 are lost, but there is reason to believe that
this is a great exaggeration. Not more than six or seven cantatas are known
to be lost, by the evidence of fragments, text-books, &c.

Forkel also says that Bach wrote five Passions. Besides the great Matthew
and John Passions there is in an indisputable Bach autograph one according
to St Luke; but it is so worthless that the best plea for its authenticity
offered by responsible critics is that only a personal interest could have
induced Bach to make a copy of it.

[v.03 p.0130] The lost Passion according to St Mark must, judging by the
movements preserved in the _Trauer-Ode_, have been larger than that
according to St John.

Was there a _genuine_ Lucas-Passion? If so, Forkel's report of five
Passions would be explained. Several lost secular works are partly
preserved in those portions of the Christmas oratorio of which the sources
are not definitely known, but which, like the other duplicated numbers, are
fair copies in the autograph.

B. _Instrumental_

Three violin concertos and one for two violins; known only from the
wonderful clavier versions.

Most of the first movement of the A major sonata for clavier and flute
which was written in the spare staves at the bottom of a larger score. Some
of these have been cut off.

V.--ARRANGEMENTS OF WORKS BY OTHER COMPOSERS

Arrangements for harpsichord alone of 16 concertos, generally described as
by Vivaldi, but including several by other composers.

4 Vivaldi concertos arranged for organ.

Many of these arrangements contain much original matter, such as entirely
new slow movements, large cadenzas, &c.

Concerto in A minor for 4 claviers and orchestra, from Vivaldi's B minor
concerto for 4 violins. This, though the most faithful to its original, is
the richest and most Bach-like of all these arrangements, and is well worth
performing in public.

2 sonatas from the _Hortus Musicus_ of Reinken, arranged for clavier. (The
ends of the slow movements are Bach.)

Finishing touches to cantatas by his uncle Johann Ludwig Bach. Also a very
characteristic complete "Christe eleison" inserted in Kyrie of Johann
Ludwig's.

VI.--DOUBTFUL AND SPURIOUS WORKS

Bach's autographs give the name of the composer on the outside sheet only.
He was constantly making copies of all that interested him; and where the
outside sheet is lost, only the music itself can tell us whether it is his
or not. The above-mentioned _Passion according to St Luke_ is the chief
case in point. The little music-books he and his second wife wrote for
their children are full of pieces in the most various styles, and the
editors of the _Bach-Gesellschaft_ have not completely identified them,
even Couperin's well-known "Les Bergeries" escaping their scrutiny. A
sonata for two claviers by Bach's eldest son, Wilhelm Friedermann, was
detected by the editors after its inclusion in _Jahrgang_ xliv. The second
of the 3 sonatas for clavier and flute is extremely suggestive of Bach's
sons, but Philipp Emanuel ascribes it to his father. However, he might
easily have docketed it wrongly while arranging copies of his father's
works. It has a twin brother (_B.-G._ ix. Anhang ii.) for which he has not
vouched.

Four absurd church cantatas are printed for conscience' sake in _Jahrgang_
xliii. More important than these, because by no means too obviously
ridiculous to deceive a careless listener, is the well-known 8-part motet,
_Lob, Ehr' und Weisheit_ (blessing and glory and wisdom). A closer
acquaintance shows that it is really very poor stuff; and it was finally
crowned with absurdity by the discovery that its composer was a
contemporary of Bach,--and that his name was Wagner.

The beautiful motet, _Ich lasse dich nicht_, has long been known to be by
one of Bach's uncles (Johann Christoph).

EDITIONS

Almost the only works of Bach published during his lifetime were the
instrumental collections, most of which he engraved himself. Of the church
cantatas only one, _Gott ist mein König_ (written when he was nineteen, but
a very great work), was published in his lifetime.

Of modern editions that of the _Bach-Gesellschaft_ is, of course, the only
complete one. It is, inevitably, of very unequal merit. Its first editors
could not realize their own ignorance of Bach's language; their immediate
admiration of his larger choruses seemed to them proof of their competence
to retain or dismiss details of ornamentation, figured bass, variants
between score and parts, &c., without always stopping to see what light
these might shed on questions of _tempo_ and style--especially in the arias
and recitatives, which they regarded as archaic almost in direct proportion
to the depth of thought really displayed in them. In the 9th _Jahrgang_
Wilhelm Rust introduced scholarly methods, with the happiest results. The
_Wohltemperirtes Klavier (Jahrgang_ xiv.) was edited by Kroll, who also
made his text accessible in the _Edition Peters_ (which till then had only
Czerny's--an amazing result of corrupt tradition, still widely accepted).
Kroll's and Rust's volumes are far the best in the _B. G._ On Rust's death
the standard deteriorated; his immediate successor seems more interested in
reprinting in full an early version of a work of which Rust had given only
the variants, than in digesting his own materials (_Jahrgang_ xxix.); and
in his next volume (_Jahrgang_ xxx. p. 109) the bass and violin are a bar
apart for a whole line. The last ten volumes, however, are again
satisfactory, and in _Jahrgang_ xliv. the French and English suites are
re-edited. Part of the B minor mass was also worked over again; and Kroll's
text of the _Wohltemperirtes Klavier_ was supplemented by the evidence of
the British Museum autograph. The Steingräber edition of the clavier works,
edited by Dr Hans Bischoff, is incomparably the best, giving all the
variants in footnotes and clearly distinguishing the extremely intelligent
nuances and phrasing signs of the editor from the rare but significant
indications of Bach himself. Nor does this wealth of scholarship interfere
with the presentation of a straightforward, single text; though in addition
there is every necessary explanation of the ornaments and kindred matters.

We have seen no other editions that distinguish Bach's text from the
editor's taste--the disappointing publications of the _Neue
Bachgesellschaft_[4] by no means excepted. We may remark that the older
vocal scores of cantatas in the _Edition Peters_ are, though unfortunately
but a selection, far better than the complete series issued by Breitkopf
and Härtel in conformity with the _Bach Gesellschaft_, and therefore
accepted as authoritative (see INSTRUMENTATION). The English vocal scores
published by Novello are generally very good though covering but small
ground. The Novello score of the Christmas oratorio contains a fine
analytic preface by Sir George Macfarren.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--J. N. Forkel, _Über Bach's Leben, Kunst und Kunstwerke_,
translated (London, 1820); C. H. Bitter, _John Sebastian Bach_ (Berlin,
1865); Ernest David, _La Vie et les oeuvres de Bach_ (Paris, 1882); P.
Spitta, _Johann Sebastian Bach_ (Leipzig, 1873 and 1880); E. Heinrich,
_Sebastian Bach's Leben_ (Berlin, 1885); A. Pirro, _L'Esthétique de Jean
Sebastian Bach_ (Paris, 1907); and _L'Orgue de Jean Sebastian Bach_ (Paris,
1907); A. Schweitzer, _J. S. Bach: Le Musicien poète_. Spitta's biography
superseded everything written before it and has not since been approached.
With corrections in the light of Rust's _B. G._ prefaces it contains
everything worth knowing about Bach, except the music itself.

(D. F. T.)

[1] Spitta points out that this cannot mean singing in the choir at a
service, but making music in church privately.

[2] The same surgeon operated unsuccessfully on both composers.

[3] See the wild conjectures of the editor of the Four Short Masses as to
the "displacing" of structure in the _kyrie_ of the G minor Mass (_B.-G.,
Jahr. viii._ preface, with Rust's answer in the preface to _Jahr. xxiii._).

[4] The object of the _Neue Bachgesellschaft_ is to render the completed
results of the first _Bachgesellschaft_ generally accessible by holding
frequent Bach festivals and issuing cheap and practical editions. The
activities of this society, together with the new movement to restore
Bach's vocal music to its place in the Lutheran Church, cannot fail to have
a salutary effect on the future of music.

BACH, KARL PHILIPP EMANUEL (1714-1788), German musician and composer, the
third son of Johann Sebastian Bach, was born at Weimar on the 14th of March
1714. When he was ten years old he entered the Thomasschule at Leipzig, of
which in 1723 his father had become cantor, and continued his education as
a student of jurisprudence at the universities of Leipzig (1731) and of
Frankfort on the Oder (1735). In 1738 he took his degree, but at once
abandoned all prospects of a legal career and determined to devote himself
to music. A few months later he obtained an appointment in the service of
the crown prince of Prussia, on whose accession in 1740 he became a member
of the royal household. He was by this time one of the first
clavier-players in Europe, and his compositions, which date from 1731,
included about thirty sonatas and concerted pieces for his favourite
instrument. His reputation was established by the two sets of sonatas which
he dedicated respectively to Frederick the Great (1742) and to the grand
duke of Württemberg (1744); in 1746 he was promoted to the post of
_Kammermusikus_, and for twenty-two years shared with Karl Heinrich, Graun,
Johann Joachim, Quantz and Johann Gottlieb Naumann the continued favour of
the king. During his residence at Berlin he wrote a fine setting of the
_Magnificat_ (1749), in which he shows more traces than usual of his
father's influence, an Easter cantata (1756), several symphonies and
concerted works, at least three volumes of songs,--_Geistliche Oden und
Lieder_, to words by Gellert (1758), _Oden mit Melodien_ (1762) and
_Sing-Oden_ (1766), and a few secular cantatas and other _pièces
d'occasion_. But his main work was concentrated on the clavier, for which
he composed, at this time, nearly two hundred sonatas and other solos,
including the set _mit veränderten Reprisen_ (1760-1768) and a few of those
_für Kenner und Liebhaber_. Meanwhile he placed himself in the forefront of
European critics by his _Versuch über die wahre Art das Clavier zu spielen_
(first part 1753, second, with the first reprinted, 1762), a systematic and
masterly treatise which by 1780 had reached its third edition, and which
laid the foundation for the methods of Clementi and Cramer. In 1768 Bach
succeeded Georg Philipp Telemann as _Kapellmeister_ at Hamburg, and in
consequence of his new office began to turn his attention more towards
church music. Next year he produced his oratorio _Die Israeliten in der
Wüste_, a composition remarkable not only for its great beauty but for the
resemblance of its plan to that of Mendelssohn's _Elijah_, and between 1769
and 1788 added over twenty settings of the Passion, a second oratorio _Der
Auferstehung [v.03 p.0131] und Himmelfahrt Jesu_ (1777), and some seventy
cantatas, litanies, motets and other liturgical pieces. At the same time
his genius for instrumental composition was further stimulated by the
career of Haydn, to whom he sent a letter of high appreciation, and the
climax of his art was reached in the six volumes of sonatas _für Kenner und
Liebhaber_, to which he devoted the best work of his last ten years. He
died at Hamburg on the 14th of December 1788.

Through the latter half of the 18th century the reputation of K. P. E. Bach
stood very high. Mozart said of him, "He is the father, we are the
children"; the best part of Haydn's training was derived from a study of
his work; Beethoven expressed for his genius the most cordial admiration
and regard. This position he owes mainly to his clavier sonatas, which mark
an important epoch in the history of musical form. Lucid in style, delicate
and tender in expression, they are even more notable for the freedom and
variety of their structural design; they break away altogether from the
exact formal antithesis which, with the composers of the Italian school,
had hardened into a convention, and substitute the wider and more flexible
outline which the great Viennese masters showed to be capable of almost
infinite development. The content of his work, though full of invention,
lies within a somewhat narrow emotional range, but it is not less sincere
in thought than polished and felicitous in phrase. Again he was probably
the first composer of eminence who made free use of harmonic colour for its
own sake, apart from the movement of contrapuntal parts, and in this way
also he takes rank among the most important pioneers of the school of
Vienna. His name has now fallen into undue neglect, but no student of music
can afford to disregard his _Sonaten für Kenner und Liebhaber_, his
oratorio _Die Israeliten in der Wüste_, and the two concertos (in G major
and D major) which have been republished by Dr Hugo Riemann.

A list of his voluminous compositions may be found in Eitner's _Quellen
Lexikon_, and a critical account of them is given in Bitter's _C. P. E. und
W. F. Bach und deren Bruder_ (2 vols., Berlin, 1868), a mine of valuable
though ill-arranged information.

Four more of Johann Sebastian Bach's sons grew to manhood and became
musicians. The eldest of them, WILHELM FRIEDERMANN BACH (1710-1784) was by
common repute the most gifted; a famous organist, a famous improvisor and a
complete master of counterpoint. But, unlike the rest of the family, he was
a man of idle and dissolute habits, whose career was little more than a
series of wasted opportunities. Educated at Leipzig, he was appointed in
1733 organist of the Sophienkirche at Dresden, and in 1747 became musical
director of the Liebfrauenkirche at Halle. The latter office he was
compelled to resign in 1764, and thenceforward he led a wandering life
until, on the 1st of July 1784, he died in great poverty at Berlin. His
compositions, very few of which were printed, include many church cantatas
and instrumental works, of which the most notable are the fugues,
polonaises and fantasias for clavier, and an interesting sestet for
strings, clarinet and horns. Several of his manuscripts are preserved in
the Royal library at Berlin; and a complete list of his works, so far as
they are known, may be found in Eitner's _Quellen Lexikon_.

The fourth son, JOHANN GOTTFRIED BERNHARD BACH (1715-1739) was, like his
elder brothers, born at Weimar and educated at Leipzig. From 1735 to 1738
he held successively the organistships at Mühlhausen and Sangerhausen; in
1738 he threw up his appointment and went to study law at Jena; in 1739 he
died, aged 24.

JOHANN CHRISTOPH FRIEDRICH BACH (1732-1795), the ninth son, was born at
Leipzig, studied at the Thomasschule and the university, and in 1750 was
appointed _Kapellmeister_ at Bückeburg. He was an industrious composer,
especially of church-music and opera, whose work reflects no discredit on
the family name.

JOHANN CHRISTIAN BACH (1735-1782), the eleventh son, was born at Leipzig,
and on the death of his father in 1750 became the pupil of his brother
Emanuel at Berlin. In 1754 he went to Italy where he studied under Padre
Martini, and from 1760 to 1762 held the post of organist at Milan
cathedral, for which he wrote two Masses, a _Requiem_, a _Te Deum_ and
other works. Having also gained some reputation as a composer of opera, he
was in 1762 invited to London and there spent the rest of his life. For
twenty years he was the most popular musician in England, his dramatic
works, produced at the King's theatre, were received with great cordiality,
he was appointed music-master to the queen, and his concerts, given in
partnership with Abel at the Hanover Square rooms, soon became the most
fashionable of public entertainments. He is of some historical interest as
the first composer who preferred the pianoforte to the older
keyed-instruments; but his works, though elegant and pleasing, were
ephemeral in character and have been deservedly forgotten.

A full account of J. C. Bach's career is given in the fourth volume of
Burney's _History of Music_, and a catalogue of his compositions in an
article by Max Schwarz, published in the _Sammelbände_ of the
_Internationale Musik-Gesellschaft_, Jhrg. ii. p. 401.

(W. H. HA.)

BACHARACH, YAIR (1639-1702), German rabbi, was the author of _[H.]awwoth
Ya[=i]r_ (a collection of _Responsa_) and other works. Bacharach was a man
of wide culture, and holds an honourable place among the pioneers of the
Jewish Renaissance which was inaugurated towards the end of the 18th
century.

BACHARACH, a town of Germany, in the Prussian Rhine Province, romantically
situated on the left bank of the Rhine, 30 m. above Coblenz on the railway
to Mainz. Pop. 2000. There is an interesting church, a basilica, dating
from the beginning of the 13th century. There are also ruins of a Gothic
church of the 13th and 15th centuries. The ruined castle of Stahleck,
crowning the heights above the town, is celebrated in history as the scene
of the marriage between Henry, eldest son of Henry the Lion (shortly before
the latter's death in 1195) and Agnes of Hohenstaufen, which effected a
temporary reconciliation between the houses of Welf and Hohenstaufen. Other
ruined castles are those of Fürstenberg and Stahlberg. All three belonged
to the counts palatine. The wines of Bacharach were once held in the
greatest esteem, and it is still one of the chief markets of the Rhenish
wine trade.

BACHAUMONT, LOUIS PETIT DE (1690-1771), French littérateur, was of noble
family and was brought up at the court of Versailles. He passed his whole
life in Paris as the centre of the _salon_ of Madame Doublet de Persan
(1677-1771), where criticism of art and literature took the form of
malicious gossip. A sort of register of news was kept in a journal of the
_salon_, which dealt largely in scandals and contained accounts of books
suppressed by the censor. Bachaumont's name is commonly connected with the
first volumes of this register, which was published anonymously under the
title _Mémoires secrets pour servir à l'histoire de la République des
Lettres_, but his exact share in the authorship is a matter of controversy.
It was continued by Pidansat de Mairobert (1707-1779) and others, until it
reached 36 volumes (1774-1779). It is of some value as a historical source,
especially for prohibited literature. Extracts were published by P. Lacroix
in one volume, 1859. An incomplete edition (4 vols.) was undertaken in 1830
by Ravenal.

See, in addition to the memoirs of the time, especially the _Correspondance
littéraire_ of Grimm, Diderot, d'Alembert and others (new ed., Paris, 1878,
17 vols.); Ch. Aubertin, _L'Esprit public au XVIII^e siècle_ (Paris, 1872).

BACHE, ALEXANDER DALLAS (1806-1867), American physicist, great-grandson of
Benjamin Franklin, was born at Philadelphia on the 19th of July 1806. After
graduating at the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1825, he
acted as assistant professor there for some time, and as a lieutenant in
the corps of engineers he was engaged for a year or two in the erection of
coast fortifications. He occupied the post of professor of natural
philosophy and chemistry in the University of Pennsylvania in 1828-1841 and
in 1842-1843. For the trustees of what in 1848 was to become Girard
College, but had not yet been opened, he spent the years 1836-1838 in
Europe, examining European systems of education, and on his return
published a very valuable report. In 1843, on the death of Professor F. R.
Hassler (1770-1843), he was appointed [v.03 p.0132] superintendent of the
United States coast survey. He succeeded in impressing Congress with a
sense of the great value of this work, and by means of the liberal aid it
granted, he carried out a singularly comprehensive plan with great ability
and most satisfactory results. By a skilful division of labour, and by the
erection of numerous observing stations, the mapping out of the whole coast
proceeded simultaneously under the eye of the general director, and in
addition a vast mass of magnetic and meteorological observations was
collected. He died at Newport, Rhode Island, on the 17th of February 1867.

BACHE, FRANCIS EDWARD (1833-1858), English musical composer, was born in
Birmingham on the 14th of September 1833. The pupil of Alfred Mellon for
violin and Sterndale Bennett for composition, he afterwards went to Leipzig
in 1853 and studied with Hauptmann and Plaidy. Considering the early age at
which he died, his compositions are fairly numerous, and the best, a trio
for piano and strings, is still held in high esteem. Two operettas, a piano
concerto and a number of published pianoforte pieces and songs do little
more than show how great was his promise. He died at Birmingham of
consumption on the 24th of August 1858. His younger brother, WALTER BACHE
(1842-1888), was born in Birmingham on the 19th of June 1842, and followed
him to the Leipzig Conservatorium, where he became an excellent pianist.
From 1862 to 1865 he studied with Liszt in Rome, and for many years devoted
himself to the task of winning popularity for his master's works in
England. At his annual concerts in London nearly all Liszt's larger works
were heard for the first time in England, and on the occasion of Liszt's
last visit to England in 1886, he was entertained by Bache at a memorable
reception at the Grosvenor Gallery. Walter Bache was professor of the
pianoforte at the Royal Academy of Music for some years before his death,
and the foundation of the Liszt scholarship at that institution was mainly
due to his efforts. He died in London on the 26th of March 1888.

An interesting memoir of the two brothers, by Miss Constance Bache,
appeared in 1901 under the title _Brother Musicians_.

BACHELOR (from Med. Lat. _baccalarius_, with its late and rare variant
_baccalaris_--cf. Ital. _baccalare_--through O. Fr. _bacheler_), in the
most general sense of the word, a young man. The word, however, as it
possesses several widely distinct applications, has passed through many
meanings, and its ultimate origin is still involved in a certain amount of
obscurity. The derivation from Welsh _bach_, little, is mentioned as
"possible" by Skeat (_Etymological Dictionary_), but is "definitely
discarded" by the _New English Dictionary_, and that given here is
suggested as probable. The word _baccalarius_ was applied to the tenant of
a _baccalaria_ (from _baccalia_, a herd of cows, _bacca_ being a Low Latin
variant of _vacca_), which was presumably at first a grazing farm and was
practically the same as a _vaselleria_, _i.e._ the fief of a sub-vassal.
Just, however, as the character and the size of the _baccalaria_ varied in
different ages, so the word _baccalarius_ changed its significance; thus in
the 8th century it was applied to the _rustici_, whether men or women
(_baccalariae_), who worked for the tenant of a _mansus_. Throughout all
its meanings the word has retained the idea of subordination suggested in
this origin. Thus it came to be applied to various categories of persons as
follows.--(1) Ecclesiastics of an inferior grade, _e.g._ young monks or
even recently appointed canons (Severtius, _de episcopis Lugdunensibus_, p.
377, in du Cange). (2) Those belonging to the lowest stage of knighthood.
Knights bachelors were either poor vassals who could not afford to take the
field under their own banner, or knights too young to support the
responsibility and dignity of knights bannerets (see KNIGHTHOOD AND
CHIVALRY). (3) Those holding the preliminary degree of a university,
enabling them to proceed to that of master (_magister_) which alone
entitled them to teach. In this sense the word _baccalarius_ or
_baccalaureus_ first appears at the university of Paris in the 13th century
in the system of degrees established under the auspices of Pope Gregory
IX., as applied to scholars still _in statu pupillari_. Thus there were two
classes of _baccalarii_: the _baccalarii cursores_, _i.e._ theological
candidates passed for admission to the divinity course, and the _baccalarii
dispositi_, who, having completed this course, were entitled to proceed to
the higher degrees. In modern universities the significance of the degree
of bachelor, in relation to the others, varies; _e.g._ at Oxford and
Cambridge the bachelor can proceed to his mastership by simply retaining
his name on the books and paying certain fees; at other universities a
further examination is still necessary. But in no case is the bachelor a
full member of the university. The degree of bachelor (of arts, &c.) is
borne by women also. (4) The younger or inferior members of a trade gild or
city company, otherwise known as "yeomen" (now obsolete). (5) Unmarried
men, since these presumably have their fortunes yet to make and are not
full citizens. The word bachelor, now confined to men in this connotation,
was formerly sometimes used of women also.

Bachelors, in the sense of unmarried men, have in many countries been
subjected to penal laws. At Sparta, citizens who remained unmarried after a
certain age suffered various penalties. They were not allowed to witness
the gymnastic exercises of the maidens; and during winter they were
compelled to march naked round the market-place, singing a song composed
against themselves and expressing the justice of their punishment. The
usual respect of the young to the old was not paid to bachelors (Plut.
_Lyc._ 15). At Athens there was no definite legislation on this matter; but
certain minor laws are evidently dictated by a spirit akin to the Spartan
doctrine (see Schömann, _Gr. Alterth._ i. 548). At Rome, though there
appear traces of some earlier legislation in the matter, the first clearly
known law is that called the Lex Julia, passed about 18 B.C. It does not
appear to have ever come into full operation; and in A.D. 9 it was
incorporated with the Lex Papia et Poppaea, the two laws being frequently
cited as one, Lex Julia et Papia Poppaea. This law, while restricting
marriages between the several classes of the people, laid heavy penalties
on unmarried persons, gave certain privileges to those citizens who had
several children, and finally imposed lighter penalties on married persons
who were childless. Isolated instances of such penalties occur during the
middle ages, _e.g._ by a charter of liberties granted by Matilda I.,
countess of Nevers, to Auxerre in 1223, an annual tax of five _solidi_ is
imposed on any man _qui non habet uxorem et est bachelarius_. In Britain
there has been no direct legislation bearing on bachelors; but,
occasionally, taxes have been made to bear more heavily on them than on
others. Instances of this are the act (6 and 7 Will. III.) passed in 1695;
the tax on servants, 1785; and the income tax, 1798.

BACHIAN (Dutch _Batjan_), one of the Molucca Islands, in the residency of
Ternate, Dutch East Indies, in the Molucca Sea, in 0°13'-0°55' S. and
127°22'-128° E. With its subordinate islands, Mandioli, Tawali and others,
it lies west of the southern peninsula of the island of Halmahera or
Jilolo, and has an area of 914 sq. m. It is of irregular form, consisting
of two distinct mountainous parts, united by a low isthmus, which a slight
subsidence would submerge. The island is in part of volcanic formation, and
the existence of hot springs points to volcanic activity. There are,
however, especially in the southern portion, ancient and non-volcanic
rocks. The highest elevation occurs at the south of the island, the
mountain of Labua reaching 6950 ft. Coal and other minerals have been
discovered. A large portion of the island is richly wooded, and sago,
cocoa-nuts and cloves (which are indigenous) are abundantly produced.
Bachian is remarkable as the most eastern point on the globe inhabited by
any of the _Quadrumana_, a black ape occurring here as in Celebes. The
island is very rich in birds and insects. The interior of the island is
uninhabited and none of the dwellers on the coast are indigenous. They
consist of the Sirani or Christian descendants of the Portuguese, of
Malays, with a Papuan element, Galela men from the north of Halmahera,
immigrants from Celebes, with some Chinese and Arabs. The total number of
inhabitants is about 13,000. The chief village, called Amasing by the
inhabitants, but also called Bachian, is situated on the west side of the
isthmus. Bachian is the most important island of a group formerly governed
by a sultan, but since 1889 by a committee of chiefs under the control of a
Dutch _contrôleur_. From 1882 onwards a Batjan company attempted to exploit
the island, but [v.03 p.0133] unsuccessfully, owing to a deficient
knowledge of the soil and its capabilities and a lack of labourers.

BACK-BOND, or BACK-LETTER, in Scots law, a deed qualifying the terms of
another deed, or declaratory of the purposes for which another deed has
been granted. Thus an _ex facie_ absolute disposition, qualified by a
back-bond expressing the limited nature of the right actually held by the
person to whom the disposition is made, would constitute what in England is
termed a deed of trust.

BACK-CHOIR, RETRO-CHOIR, a space behind the high altar in the choir of a
church, in which there is, or was, a small altar standing back to back with
the other.

BACKERGUNJE, or BAKARGANJ, a district of British India in the Dacca
division of Eastern Bengal and Assam. It forms part of the joint delta of
the Ganges and the Brahmaputra, and its area is 4542 sq. m. The general
aspect of the district is that of a flat even country, dotted with clusters
of bamboos and betel-nut trees, and intersected by a perfect network of
dark-coloured and sluggish streams. There is not a hill or hillock in the
whole district, but it derives a certain picturesque beauty from its wide
expanses of cultivation, and the greenness and freshness of the vegetation.
This is especially conspicuous in the rains, but at no time of the year
does the district present a dried or burnt-up appearance. The villages,
which are always walled round by groves of bamboos and betel-nut palms,
have often a very striking appearance; and Backergunje has many beauties of
detail which strike a traveller in passing through the country. The level
of the country is low, forming as it does a part of the great Gangetic
delta; and the rivers, streams and water-courses are so numerous that it is
very difficult to travel except by boat at any season of the year. Every
natural hollow is full of water, around the margin of which long grasses,
reeds and other aquatic plants grow in the greatest profusion, often making
it difficult to say where the land ends and the water begins. Towards the
north-west the country is very marshy and nothing is to be seen for miles
but tracts of unreclaimed swamps and rice lands, with a few huts scattered
here and there and raised on mounds of earth. In the south of the district,
along the coast of the Bay of Bengal, lie the forest tracts of the
Sundarbans, the habitation of tigers, leopards and other wild beasts.

The principal rivers of the district are the Meghna, the Arial Khan and the
Haringhata or Baleswar, with their numerous offshoots. The Meghna
represents the accumulated waters of the Brahmaputra and Ganges. It flows
along the eastern boundary of the district in a southerly direction for
about 100 m. till it debouches into the Bay of Bengal. During the latter
part of its course this noble river expands into a large estuary containing
many islands, the principal of which is that of Dakshin Shahbazpur. The
islands on the sea-front are exposed to devastation by cyclonic
storm-waves. The Arial Khan, a branch of the Ganges, enters the district
from the north, and flows generally in a south-easterly direction till it
falls into the estuary of the Meghna. The main channel of the Arial Khan is
about 1700 yds. in width in the dry season, and from 2000 to 3000 yds. in
the rains. It receives a number of tributaries, sends off several
offshoots, and is navigable throughout the year by native cargo boats of
the largest size. The Haringhata, Baleswar, Madhumati and Garai are various
local names for the same river in different parts of its course and
represent another great offshoot of the Ganges. It enters Backergunje near
the north-west corner of the district, whence it forms its western
boundary, and runs south, but with great windings in its upper reaches,
till it crosses the Sundarbans, and finally falls into the Bay of Bengal by
a large and deep estuary, capable of receiving ships of considerable
burden. In the whole of its course through the district the river is
navigable by native boats of large tonnage, and by large sea-going ships as
high up as Morrellganj, in the neighbouring district of Jessore. Among its
many tributaries in Backergunje the most important is the Kacha, itself a
considerable stream and navigable by large boats all the year round, which
flows in a southerly direction for 20 m., when it falls into the Baleswar.
Other rivers of minor importance are the Barisal, Bishkhali, Nihalganj,
Khairabad, Ghagar, Kumar, &c. All the rivers in the district are subject to
tidal action from the Meghna on the north, and from the Bay of Bengal on
the south, and nearly all of them are navigable at high tide by country
boats of all sizes. The rise of the tide is very considerable in the
estuary of the Meghna, and many of the creeks and water-courses in the
island of Dakshin Shahbazpur, which are almost dry at ebb tide, contain 18
or 19 ft. of water at the flood. A very strong "bore" or tidal wave runs up
the estuary of the Meghna at spring tides, and a singular sound like
thunder, known as the "Barisal guns," is often heard far out at sea about
the time it is coming in. There are numerous marshes in the district, of
great size and depth, and abounding in fish.

The Mussulmans of Backergunje are among the worst of their creed, steeped
in ignorance and prejudice, easily excited to violence and murder, very
litigious and grossly immoral. On account of an epidemic of murders
disarmament had to be enforced in the district. The Faraizis or Puritan
sect of Mahommedans are exceedingly numerous in the district. The Buddhist
population consists of Maghs or the people of Arakan, who first settled in
Backergunje about 1800, and have made themselves very useful in the
clearing of the Sundarbans. A gipsy-like tribe called the Bebajias are
rather numerous in this district. They live principally in boats,
travelling from place to place, profess Mahommedanism, and gain their
subsistence by wood-cutting in the Sundarbans, fishing, fortune-telling and
trading in trinkets. In 1901 the population was 2,291,752, showing an
increase of 6% in the decade.

A number of small trading villages exist throughout the district, and each
locality has its periodical fairs for purposes of traffic. The material
condition of the people is good. Every inhabitant is a small landholder and
cultivates sufficient rice and other necessaries for the support of his
family. Owing to this reason, hired labour is very scarce. Rice is the
great crop of the district, and three harvests are obtained annually--the
_aman_, or winter rice; _aus_, or autumn crop; and _boro_, or spring rice.
The climate of Backergunje is one of the healthiest in Eastern Bengal,
owing to the strong south-west monsoon, which comes up directly from the
Bay of Bengal, and keeps the atmosphere cool; but the heavy rainfall and
consequent humidity of the atmosphere, combined with the use of bad water,
are fruitful sources of disease. The average annual temperature varies from
78° to 85° F. The thermometer ranges from 62° to 98°.

Barisal, the headquarters station, situated on the west bank of the Barisal
river, had a population in 1901 of 18,978. The next largest town is
Pirojpur (14,119).

BACKGAMMON, a game played with draughtsmen and a special board, depending
on the throw of dice. It is said to have been invented about the 10th
century (Strutt). A similar game (_Ludus duodecim scriptorum_, the
"twelve-line game") was known to the Romans, and Plato (_Republic_, bk. x.)
alludes to a game in which dice were thrown and men were placed after due
consideration. The etymology of the word "backgammon" is disputed; it is
probably Saxon--_baec_, back, _gamen_, game; _i.e._ a game in which the
players are liable to be sent back. Other derivations are, Dan. _bakke_,
tray, _gammen_, game (Wedgwood); and Welsh _bach_, little, _cammaun_,
battle (Henry). Chaucer alludes to a game of "tables," played with three
dice, in which "men" were moved from the opponent's "tables," the game
(_ludus Anglicorum_) being described in the Harleian MSS. (1527). The
French name for backgammon is _trictrac_, imitative of the rattle of the
dice.

Backgammon is played by two persons. The "board" (see diagram) is divided
into four "tables," each table being marked with six "points" coloured
differently. The inner and outer tables are separated from each other by a
projecting _bar_. The board (in the ordinary form of the game) is furnished
with fifteen white and fifteen black men, "set" or arranged as in the
diagram. It is usual to make the inner table the one nearest to the light.
Two dice-boxes are required, one for each player, and a pair of dice, which
are used by both players. The dice are marked with numbers on their six
sides, from one to six, number one being called, "ace"; two, "deuce":
three, "trey." Formerly the [v.03 p.0134] four was called "quatre"
(pronounced "cater"); the five, "cinque" (pronounced either "sank" or
"sink"); and the six, "six" (size).

For the right to start each player throws one or two dice; the one who
throws the higher number has the right of playing first; and he may either
adopt the numbers thrown or he may throw again, using both dice.

The men are moved on from point to point, according to the throws of the
dice made by the players alternately. White moves from black's inner table
to black's outer, and from this to white's outer table, and so on to
white's inner table; and all black's moves must be in the contrary
direction. A player may move any of his men a number of points
corresponding to the numbers thrown by him, provided the point to which the
move would bring him is not _blocked_ by two or more of his adversary's men
being on it. The whole throw may be taken with one man, or two men maybe
moved, one the exact number of points on one die, the other the number on
the other die. If doublets are thrown (_e.g._ two sixes), four moves of
that number (_e.g._ four moves of six points) may be made, either all by
one man or separately by more. Thus, suppose white throws five, six, he may
move one of his men from the left-hand corner of the black's inner table to
the left-hand corner of black's outer table for six; he may, again, move
the same man five points farther on, when his move is completed; or he may
move any other man five points. But white cannot move a man for five from
the black's ace-point, because the six-point in that table is blocked. Any
part of the throw which cannot be moved is of no effect, but it is
compulsory for a player to move the whole throw unless blocked. Thus if the
men were differently placed, and white could move a six, and having done so
could not move a five, his move is completed. If, however, by moving the
five first, he can afterwards move a six, he must make the move in that
manner.

When a player so moves as to place two men on the same point, he is said to
"make a point."

When there is only a single man on a point, it is called a "blot." When a
blot is left, the man there may be taken up (technically the blot may be
"hit") by the adversary if he throws a number which will enable him to
place a man on that point. The man hit is placed on the bar, and has to
begin again by entering the adversary's home table again at the next throw
should it result in a number that corresponds to an unblocked point. The
points in the home tables count for this purpose as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
beginning from the ace-point. A player is not allowed to move any other man
while he has one to enter. It is, therefore, an advantage to have made all
the points in your own board, so that your adversary, if you take a man up,
cannot enter; and you can then continue throwing until a point is opened.

The game proceeds until one of the players gets all his men into his inner
table or _home_. Then he begins to take his men off the board, or to _bear_
them, _i.e._ to remove a man from any point that corresponds in number with
his throw. If such a point is unoccupied, a move must be made, if there is
room for it, and a move may be taken, instead of bearing a man, at any
time; but when six is empty, if six is thrown a man may be borne from five
and so on. If, after a player has commenced throwing off his men, he should
be hit on a blot, he must enter on his adversary's inner table and must
bring the man taken up into his own inner table before he can bear further.

Whoever first takes off all his men wins the game:--a single game (a "hit")
if his adversary has begun bearing; a double game (a "gammon") if the
adversary has not borne a man; and a triple game (a "backgammon") if, at
the time the winner bears his last man, his adversary, not having borne a
man, has one in the winner's inner table, or has a man up. When a series of
games is played, the winner of a hit has the first throw in the succeeding
game; but if a gammon is won, the players each throw a single die to
determine the first move of the next game.

In order to play backgammon well, it is necessary to know all the chances
on two dice and to apply them in various ways. The number of different
throws that can be made is thirty-six. By taking all the combinations of
these throws which include given numbers, it is easily discovered where
blots may be left with the least probability of being hit. For example, to
find the chance of being hit where a blot can only be taken up by an ace,
the adversary may throw two aces, or ace in combination with any other
number up to six, and he may throw each of these in two different ways, so
that there are in all eleven ways in which an ace may be thrown. This,
deducted from thirty-six (the total number of throws), leaves twenty-five;
so that it is 25 to 11 against being hit on an ace. It is very important to
bear in mind the chance of being hit on any number. The following table
gives the odds against being hit on any number within the reach of one or
two dice: -

  It is 25 to 11, or about 9 to 4, against being hit on 1
     "  24 "  12,    or    2 "  1,           "          2
     "  22 "  14, or about 3 "  2,           "          3
     "  21 "  15,    or    7 "  5,           "          4
     "  21 "  15,    "     7 "  5,           "          5
     "  19 "  17,    "    9½ "  8½,          "          6
     "  30 "   6,    "     5 "  1,           "          7
     "  30 "   6,    "     5 "  1,           "          8
     "  31 "   5, or about 6 "  1,           "          9
     "  33 "   3,    or   11 "  1,           "         10
     "  34 "   2,    "    17 "  1,           "         11
     "  33 "   3,    "    11 "  1,           "         12

The table shows that if a blot must be left within the reach of one die,
the nearer it is left to the adversary's man the less probability there is
of its being hit. Also, that it is long odds against being hit on a blot
which is only to be reached with double dice, and that, in that case (on
any number from 7 to 11), the farther off the blot is, the less chance
there is of its being hit.

The table assumes that the board is open for every possible throw. If part
of the throw is blocked by an intervening point being held by adverse men,
the chance of being hit is less.

Two principles, then, have to be considered in moving the men:-- (1) To
make points where there is the best chance of obstructing the opponent. (2)
When obliged to leave blots, to choose the position in which they are least
likely to be hit.

The best points to secure are the five-point in your own inner table and
the five-point in your adversary's inner table. The next best is your own
bar-point; and the next best the four in your own inner table.

The best move for some throws at the commencement of a game is as
follows:--Aces (the best of all throws), move two on your bar-point and two
on your five-point. This throw is often given to inferior players by way of
odds.

Ace, trey: make the five-point in your inner table.

Ace, six: make your bar-point.

Deuces: move two on the four-point in your inner table, and two on the
trey-point in your opponent's inner table.

Deuce, four: make the four-point in your own table.

Threes: play two on the five-point in your inner table, and two on the
four-point of your adversary's inner table, or make your bar-point.

Trey, five: make the trey-point in your own table.

Trey, six: bring a man from your adversary's ace-point as far as he will
go.

Fours: move on two on the five-point in your adversary's inner table, and
two from the five in his outer table.

Four, five and four, six: carry a man from your adversary's ace-point as
far as he will go.

Fives: move two men from the five in your adversary's outer table to the
trey-point in your inner table.

Five, six: move a man from your adversary's ace-point as far as he will go.

Sixes (the second-best throw): move two on your adversary's bar-point and
two on your own bar-point.

In carrying the men home carry the most distant man to your adversary's
bar-point, to the six-point in your outer table, and then to the six-point
in your inner table. By following this rule as nearly [v.03 p.0135] as the
throws admit, you will carry the men to your inner table in the fewest
number of throws.

Avoid carrying many men upon the trey or deuce-point in your own tables, as
these men are out of play.

Whenever you have taken up two of your adversary's men, and two or more
points made in your inner table, spread your other men in the hope of
making another point in your tables, and of hitting the man your adversary
enters.

Always take up a man if the blot you leave in making the move can only be
hit with double dice, but if you already have two of your opponent's men in
your tables it is unwise to take up a third.

In entering a man which it is to your adversary's advantage to hit, leave
the blot upon the lowest point you can, _e.g._ ace-point in preference to
deuce-point.

When your adversary is bearing his men, and you have two men in his table,
say, on his ace-point, and several men in the outer table, it is to your
advantage to leave one man on the ace-point, because it prevents his
bearing his men to the greatest advantage, and gives you the chance of his
leaving a blot. But if you find that you can probably save the gammon by
bringing both your men out of his table, do not wait for a blot. Eight
points is the average throw.

The laws of backgammon (as given by Hoyle) are as follows:--

1. When a man is touched by the caster it must be played if possible; if
impossible no penalty. 2. A man is not played till it is placed upon a
point and quitted. 3. If a player omits a man from the board there is no
penalty. 4. If he bears any number of men before he has entered a man taken
up, men so borne must be entered again. 5. If he has mistaken his throw and
played it, and his adversary has thrown, it is not in the choice of either
of the players to alter it, unless they both agree to do so. 6. If one or
both dice are "cocked," _i.e._ do not lie fairly and squarely on the table,
a fresh throw is imperative.

_Russian Backgammon_ varies from the above game in that the men, instead of
being set as in the diagram, are entered in the same table by throws of the
dice, and both players move in the same direction round to the opposite
table. There are various rules for this game. By some a player is not
obliged to enter all his men before he moves any; he can take up blots at
any time on entering, but while he has a man up, he must enter it before
entering any more or moving any of those already entered. If he cannot
enter the man that is up, he loses the benefit of the throw.

A player who throws doublets must play or enter not only the number thrown,
but also doublets of the number corresponding to the opposite side of the
dice; thus, if he throws sixes, he must first enter or move the sixes, as
the case may be, and then aces, and he also has another throw. Some rules
allow him to play either doublets first, but he must always complete one
set before playing the other. If a player cannot play the whole of his
throw, his adversary is sometimes allowed to play the unplayed portion, in
which cases the caster is sometimes allowed to come in and complete his
moves, if he can, and in the event of his having thrown deuce-ace or
doublets to throw again. If he throws doublets a second time, he moves and
throws again, and so on. The privilege is sometimes restricted by not
allowing this advantage to the first doublets thrown by each player. It is
sometimes extended by allowing the thrower of the deuce-ace to choose any
doublets he likes on the opposite side of the dice, and to throw again. The
restriction with regard to the first doublets thrown does not apply to
deuce-ace, nor does throwing it remove the restriction with regard to first
doublets. A player must first be able to complete the doublets thrown. If
the player cannot move the whole throw he cannot take the corresponding
doublets, and he is not allowed another throw if he cannot move all the
points to which he is entitled.

BACKHUYSEN, or BAKHUISEN, LUDOLF (1631-1708), Dutch painter, was born at
Emden, in Hanover. He was brought up as a merchant at Amsterdam, but early
discovered so strong a genius for painting that he relinquished business
and devoted himself to art. He studied first under Allart van Everdingen
and then under Hendrik Dubbels, two eminent masters of the time, and soon
became celebrated for his sea-pieces. He was an ardent student of nature,
and frequently exposed himself on the sea in an open boat in order to study
the effects of tempests. His compositions, which are very numerous, are
nearly all variations of one subject, and in a style peculiarly his own,
marked by intense realism or faithful imitation of nature. In his later
years Backhuysen employed his time in etching and calligraphy. He died in
Amsterdam on the 17th of November 1708.

BACKNANG, a town of Germany, in the kingdom of Württemberg, 19 m. by rail
N.E. from Stuttgart. Pop. (1900) 7650. It has an interesting church, dating
from the 12th century, and notable tanneries and leather factories, woollen
and cloth mills. In 1325 Backnang was ceded to Württemberg by Baden. In the
vicinity is the Wilhelmsheim sanatorium for consumptives.

BACKSCRATCHER, a long slender rod of wood, whalebone, tortoiseshell, horn
or cane, with a carved human hand, usually of ivory, mounted at the
extremity. Its name suggests the primary use of the implement, but little
is known of its history, and it was unquestionably also employed as a kind
of rake to keep in order the huge "heads" of powdered hair worn by ladies
during a considerable portion of the 18th and the early part of the 19th
centuries. The backscratcher varies in length from 12 to 20 in., and the
more elaborate examples, which were occasionally hung from the waist, are
silver-mounted, and in rare instances the ivory fingers bear carved rings.
The hand is sometimes outstretched, and sometimes the fingers are flexed;
the modelling is frequently good, the fingers delicately formed and the
nails well defined. As a rule the rod is finished off with a knob. The hand
was now and again replaced by a rake or a bird's claw. The hand was
indifferently dexter or sinister, but the Chinese variety usually bears a
right hand. Like most of the obsolete appliances of daily life, the
backscratcher, or scratch-back, as it is sometimes called, has become
scarce, and it is one of the innumerable objects which attract the
attention of the modern collector.

BACK'S RIVER (_Thlewechodyeth_, or "Great Fish"), a river in Mackenzie and
Keewatin districts, Canada, rising in Sussex lake, a small body of water in
108° 20' W. and 64° 25' N., and flowing with a very tortuous course N.E. to
an inlet of the Arctic Ocean, passing through several large
lake-expansions--Pelly, Carry, MacDougall and Franklin. Like the
Coppermine, the only other large river of this part of Canada, it is
rendered unnavigable by a succession of rapids and rocks. It was discovered
and explored by Sir George Back in 1834. Its total length is 560 m.

BACKWARDATION, or, as it is more often called for brevity, BACK, a
technical term employed on the London Stock Exchange to express the amount
charged for the loan of stock from one account to the other, and paid to
the purchaser by the seller on a bear account (see ACCOUNT) in order to
allow the seller to defer the delivery of the stock. The seller, having
sold for delivery on a certain date, stocks or shares which probably he
does not possess, in the hope that he may be able, before the day fixed for
delivery, to buy them at a cheaper price and so earn a profit, finds on
settling-day that the prices have not gone down according to his
expectation, and therefore pays the purchaser an agreed amount of interest
(_backwardation_) for the privilege of deferring the delivery, either in
order to procure the stock, or else in the hope that there will be a
shrinkage in the price which will enable him to gain a profit. (See also
STOCK EXCHANGE).

BACON, FRANCIS (BARON VERULAM, VISCOUNT ST ALBANS) (1561-1626), English
philosopher, statesman and essayist, was born at York House in the Strand,
London, on the 22nd of January 1560/1. He was the youngest son of Sir
Nicholas Bacon (_q.v._). His mother, the second wife of Sir Nicholas, was a
daughter of Sir Anthony Cooke, formerly tutor to Edward VI. She was a woman
of considerable culture, well skilled in the classical studies of the
period, and a warm adherent of the Reformed or Puritan Church. Very little
is known of Bacon's early life and education. His health being then, as
always, extremely delicate, he probably received much of his instruction at
home. In April 1573 he was entered at Trinity College, Cambridge, where for
three years he resided with his brother Anthony. At Cambridge he applied
himself diligently to the several sciences as then taught, and came to the
conclusion that the methods employed and the results attained were alike
erroneous. Although he preserved a reverence for Aristotle (of whom,
however, he seems to have known but little), he learned to despise the
current Aristotelian philosophy. It yielded no fruit, was serviceable only
for disputation, and the end it proposed to itself was a mistaken one.
Philosophy must be taught its true purpose, and for this purpose a new
method must be devised. With the [v.03 p.0136] first germs of this great
conception in his mind, Bacon left the university.

On the 27th of June 1576 he and his brother Anthony were entered _de
societate magistrorum_ at Gray's Inn, and a few months later he was sent
abroad with Sir Amyas Paulet, the English ambassador at Paris. The
disturbed state of government and society in France at that time afforded
him valuable political instruction. It was formerly supposed that certain
_Notes on the State of Christendom_, usually printed in his works, contain
the results of his observations, but Spedding has shown that there is no
reason for ascribing these _Notes_ to him, and that they may be attributed
with more probability to one of his brother Anthony's correspondents.

The sudden death of his father in February 1578/9 necessitated Bacon's
return to England, and exercised a very serious influence on his fortunes.
A considerable sum of money had been laid up by Sir Nicholas for the
purchase of an estate for his youngest son, the only one otherwise
unprovided for. Owing to his sudden death, this intention was not carried
out, and a fifth only of the money descended to Francis. This was one of
the gravest misfortunes of his life; he started with insufficient means,
acquired a habit of borrowing and was never afterwards out of debt. As it
had become necessary that he should adopt some profession, he selected that
of law, and took up his residence at Gray's Inn in 1579.

In the fragment _De Interpretation Naturae Prooemium_ (written probably
about 1603) Bacon analyses his own mental character and lays before us the
objects he had in view when he entered on public life. If his opening
sentence, "Ego cum me ad utilitates humanas natum existimarem" ("since I
thought myself born to be of advantage to mankind"), seems at first sight a
little arrogant, it must be remembered that it is the arrogance of
Aristotle's [Greek: megalopsuchos],[1] who thinks himself worthy of great
things, and is worthy. The ideal of production of good to the human race
through the discovery of truth, was combined in him with the practical
desire to be of service to his country. He purposed, therefore, to obtain,
if possible, some honourable post in the state which would give him the
means of realizing these projects, and would enable him to do somewhat for
the church, the third of the objects whose good he had at heart. The
constant striving after these three ends is the key to Bacon's life. His
qualifications for accomplishing the task were not small. His intellect was
far-seeing and acute, quick and yet cautious, meditative, methodical and
free from prejudice. If we add to this account that he seems to have been
of an unusually amiable disposition we have a fairly complete picture of
his mental character at this critical period of his life.

In 1580 he appears to have taken the first step in his career by applying,
through his uncle, Burghley, the lord treasurer, for some post at court.
His suit, though well received by the queen, was unsuccessful; the
particulars are totally unknown. For two years after this disappointment he
worked quietly at Gray's Inn, and in 1582 was admitted an outer barrister.
In 1584 he took his seat in parliament for Melcombe in Dorsetshire, but the
notes for the session do not disclose what reputation he gained. About the
same time he made another application to Burghley, apparently with a view
to expediting his progress at the bar. His uncle, who appears to have
"taken his zeal for ambition," wrote him a severe letter, taking him to
task for arrogance and pride, qualities which Bacon vehemently disclaimed.
As his advancement at the bar was unusually rapid, his uncle's influence
may have been exerted in his behalf. In 1589 he received the first
substantial piece of patronage from his powerful kinsman, the reversion of
the clerkship of the Star Chamber. The office was worth about £1600 a year;
but it did not become vacant for nearly twenty years. A considerable period
of his life thus slipped away, and his affairs had not prospered. He had
written on the condition of parties in the church; he had set down his
thoughts on philosophical reform in the lost tract, _Temporis Partus
Maximus_; but he had failed in obtaining the position which he looked upon
as an indispensable condition of success. A long and eloquent letter to
Burghley[2] throws additional light upon his character, and gives a hint as
to the cause of his uncle's slackness in promoting him.

Some time before this, perhaps as early as 1588, Bacon appears to have
become acquainted with the earl of Essex, Elizabeth's favourite. At the
close of 1591 he was acting as the earl's confidential adviser, and exerted
himself, together with his brother Anthony, diligently in the earl's
service. In February 1593 parliament was called, and Bacon took his seat
for Middlesex. The special occasion for which the House had been summoned
was the discovery of one of the numerous popish plots that distracted
Elizabeth's reign.

As Bacon's conduct in this emergency seriously affected his fortunes and
has been much misunderstood, it is necessary to state, as briefly as
possible, the whole facts of the case. The House having been duly informed
of the state necessities, assented to a double subsidy and appointed a
committee to draw up the requisite articles. Before this was completed, a
message arrived from the House of Lords requesting a conference, which was
granted. The committee of the Commons were then informed that the crisis
demanded a triple subsidy to be collected in a shorter time than usual,
that the Lords could not assent to less than this, and that they desired to
confer on the matter. This proposal of the Lords to discuss supply
infringed upon the privileges of the Commons; accordingly, when the report
of committee was read to the Lower House, Bacon spoke against the proposed
conference, pointing out at the same time that a communication from the
Lords might be received, but that the actual deliberation on it must be
taken by themselves alone. His motion, after some delay, was carried and
the conference was rejected. The Lords upon this lowered their demands, and
desired merely to make a communication, which, being legitimate, was at
once assented to. The House had then before them the proposal for a triple
subsidy, to be collected in three, or, as the motion ultimately was shaped,
in four years, instead of in six, as the ordinary custom would have been.
Bacon, who approved of the increased subsidy, was opposed to the short
period in which it was proposed to raise it. He suggested that it would be
difficult or impossible for the people to meet such heavy demands, that
discontent and trouble would arise, and that the better method of procedure
was to raise money by levy or imposition. His motion appears to have
received no support, and the four years' subsidy was passed unanimously.
Bacon, as it turned out, had been mistaken in thinking that the country
would be unable to meet the increased taxation, and his conduct, though
prompted by a pure desire to be of service to the queen, gave deep and
well-nigh ineradicable offence. He was accused [v.03 p.0137] of seeking
popularity, and was for a time excluded from the court. His letter to
Burghley,[3] who had told him of the queen's displeasure with his speech,
offers no apology for what he had said, but expresses regret that his
motives should have been misunderstood. He soon felt that the queen's anger
was not to be appeased by such a justification. The attorney-generalship
had fallen vacant and Bacon became a candidate for the office, his most
formidable rival being his life-long antagonist, Edward Coke, who was then
solicitor. Essex warmly espoused Bacon's cause and earnestly pressed his
claims upon the queen; but his impetuous, pettish pleading tended to retard
the cause. Burghley, on the other hand, in no way promoted his nephew's
interest; he would recommend him for the solicitorship, but not for the
attorney-generalship; and it is not improbable that Sir Robert Cecil
secretly used his influence against his cousin. The queen delayed the
appointment, and Bacon's fortunes, as they then stood, could ill brook
delay. He was harassed with debt and at times so disheartened that he
contemplated retirement from public life. In March 1594 it was at last
understood that Coke was to be attorney-general. Essex, though bitterly
mortified, at once threw all his energies into the endeavour to procure for
Bacon the solicitorship; but in this case also, his method of dealing,
which was wholly opposed to Bacon's advice,[4] seemed to irritate the
queen. The old offence was not yet forgiven, and after a tedious delay, the
office was given, in October 1595, to Serjeant Thomas Fleming. Burghley and
Sir John Puckering seem to have assisted Bacon honestly, if not
over-warmly, in this second application; but the conduct of Cecil had
roused suspicions which were not perhaps without foundation. Essex, to
compensate in some degree for Bacon's disappointment, insisted on
presenting him with a piece of land, worth about £1800, and situated
probably near Twickenham Park. Nor did his kindness cease there; before
sailing on the expedition to Cadiz, in the beginning of 1596, he addressed
letters to Buckhurst, Fortescue and Egerton, earnestly requesting them to
use their influence towards procuring for Bacon the vacant office of master
of the rolls. Before anything came of this application, the Cadiz
expedition had resulted in a brilliant success, and Essex became the idol
of the army and the people. Bacon saw clearly that such a reputation would
assuredly alienate the affections of the queen, who loved not to have a
subject too powerful or too popular. He therefore addressed an eloquent and
imploring letter to the earl, pointing out the dangers of his position and
urging upon him what he judged to be the only safe course of action, to
seek and secure the favour of the queen alone; above all things dissuading
him from the appearance of military popularity. His advice, however, was
unpalatable and proved ineffectual. The earl still continued his usual
course of dealing with the queen, depending solely upon her supposed
affection for him, and insanely jealous of any other whom she might seem to
favour. His unskilful and unlucky management of the sea expedition to
Ferrol and the Azores in no way lowered his popularity with the people, but
undoubtedly weakened his influence with the queen.

Bacon's affairs in the meantime had not been prospering. He had increased
his reputation by the publication in 1597 of his _Essays_, along with which
were the _Colours of Good and Evil_ and the _Meditationes Sacrae_; but his
private fortunes were in a bad condition. No public office apparently could
be found for him; a scheme for retrieving his position by a marriage with
the wealthy widow, Lady Elizabeth Hatton, failed, and in 1598 he was
arrested for debt. He seems, however, to have been growing in favour with
the queen. Some years previously (perhaps about 1594), he had begun to be
employed by her in crown affairs, and he gradually acquired the standing of
one of the learned counsel, though he had no commission or warrant, and
received no salary. At the same time he was no longer on the former
friendly terms with Essex, a certain estrangement having sprung up between
them, caused no doubt by the earl's dislike of his friend's advice. The
earl's affairs were then at a somewhat critical stage, and as our judgment
upon a most important episode in Bacon's life depends upon our knowledge of
the events of the ensuing year, it will be requisite to enter somewhat
minutely into proceedings with which Bacon himself had nothing to do.

Ireland was then in a rebellious and discontented condition, and it was
difficult for the English government to decide either on a definite course
of policy with regard to it, or on a leader by whom that policy might be
carried out. A violent quarrel took place between the queen and Essex, who
for some months retired from court and refused to be reconciled. At last he
came forth from his seclusion, and it was soon understood that he was in
person to undertake the subjugation of the rebels in Ireland, with a larger
force than had ever before been sent into that country. Into the obscure
details of this unhappy campaign it is unnecessary to enter; one fact
stands out clearly, that Essex endeavoured to carry out a treasonable
design. His jealousy and ill-temper had been so roused that the only course
open to him seemed to be the obtaining a powerful military force, the
possession of which would compel the queen to reinstate him in her favour.
Whether or not this plan was in contemplation before he undertook the Irish
expedition is not evident, though even outsiders at that time entertained
some suspicions, but there can be no doubt of the treasonable character of
the negotiations carried on in Ireland. His plans, probably not very
definite, were disturbed by an imperative message from the queen, ordering
him not to return to England without her permission. He at once set off,
and, trusting apparently to her affection for him, presented himself
suddenly before her. He was, for the moment, received kindly, but was soon
afterwards ordered to keep his chamber, and was then given into the custody
of the lord keeper at York House, where he remained till March 1600. His
great popularity, and the general ignorance of the reasons for his
imprisonment, stirred up a strong feeling against the queen, who was
reported to be influenced by Bacon, and such indignation was raised against
the latter that his friends feared his life would be in danger. It was at
last felt necessary that the queen should in some way vindicate her
proceedings, and this she at first did, contrary to Bacon's advice, by a
declaration from the Star Chamber. This, however, gave little or no
satisfaction, and it was found expedient to do what Bacon had always
recommended, to have a fair trial, yet not one in which the sentence must
needs be damaging to the earl. The trial accordingly took place before a
body of her majesty's councillors, and Bacon had a subordinate and
unimportant part in the accusation. Essex does not seem to have been at all
hurt by his action in this matter, and shortly after his release they were
again on friendly terms, Bacon drawing up letters as if to or from the earl
with the design of having them brought before the queen. But Bacon did not
know the true character of the transactions in which Essex had been
engaged. The latter had been released from all custody in August, but in
the meantime he had been busily engaged in treasonable correspondence with
James of Scotland, and was counting on the Irish army under his ally,
Charles Blount, Baron Mountjoy (afterwards earl of Devonshire), the new
deputy. But Mountjoy had apparently come to see how useless the attempt
would be to force upon the queen a settlement of the succession and
declined to go farther in the matter. Essex was thus thrown upon his own
resources, and his anger against the queen being roused afresh by the
refusal to renew his monopoly of sweet wines, he formed the desperate
project of seizing her person and compelling her to dismiss from her
council his enemies Raleigh, Cobham, and Cecil. As some pretext, he
intended to affirm that his life was in danger from these men, who were in
league with the Spaniards. The plot was forced on prematurely by the
suspicions excited at court, and the rash attempt to rouse the city of
London (8th of February 1601), proved a complete _fiasco_. The leaders were
arrested that night and thrown into prison. Although the actual rising
might have appeared a mere outburst of frantic passion, the private
examinations of the most prominent [v.03 p.0138] conspirators disclosed to
the government a plot so widely spread, and involving so many of the
highest in the land, that it would have been perilous to have pressed home
accusations against all who might be implicated. Essex was tried along with
the young earl of Southampton, and Bacon, as one of her majesty's counsel,
was present on the occasion. Coke, who was principal spokesman, managed the
case with great want of skill, incessantly allowing the thread of the
evidence to escape, and giving the prisoners opportunity to indulge in
irrelevant justifications and protestations which were not ineffectual in
distracting attention from the real question at issue. On the first
opportunity Bacon rose and briefly pointed out that the earl's plea of
having done nothing save what was absolutely necessary to defend his life
from the machinations of his enemies was weak and worthless, inasmuch as
these enemies were purely imaginary; and he compared his case to that of
Peisistratus, who had made use of a somewhat similar stratagem to cloak his
real designs upon the city of Athens. He was thereupon interrupted by the
earl, who proceeded to defend himself, by declaring that in one of the
letters drawn up by Bacon, and purporting to be from the earl to Anthony
Bacon, the existence of these rumours, and the dangers to be apprehended
from them, had been admitted; and he continued, "If these reasons were then
just and true, not counterfeit, how can it be that now my pretences are
false and injurious?" To this Bacon replied, that "the letters, if they
were there, would not blush to be seen for anything contained in them, and
that he had spent more time in vain in studying how to make the earl a good
servant to the queen than he had done in any thing else." It seems to be
forgotten in the general accounts of this matter, not only that Bacon's
letters bear out what he said, but that the earl's excuses were false. A
second time Bacon was compelled to interfere in the course of the trial,
and to recall to the minds of those present the real question at issue. He
animadverted strongly upon the puerile nature of the defence, and in answer
to a remark by Essex, that if he had wished to stir up a rebellion he would
have had a larger company with him, pointed out that his dependence was
upon the people of London, and compared his attempt to that of the duke of
Guise at Paris. To this the earl made little or no reply. Bacon's use of
this illustration and of the former one of Peisistratus, has been much
commented on, and in general it seems to have been thought that had it not
been for his speeches Essex might have escaped, or, at all events, have
been afterwards pardoned. But this view of the matter depends on the
supposition that Essex was guilty only of a rash outbreak.[5] That this was
not the case was well known to the queen and her council. Unfortunately,
prudential motives hindered the publication of the whole evidence; the
people, consequently, were still ignorant of the magnitude of the crime,
and, till recently, biographers of Bacon have been in a like ignorance.[6]
The earl himself, before execution, confessed his guilt and the thorough
justice of his sentence, while, with singular lack of magnanimity, he
incriminated several against whom accusations had not been brought, among
others his sister Lady Rich. After his execution it was thought necessary
that some account of the facts should be drawn up and circulated, in order
to remove the prejudice against the queen's action in the matter. This was
entrusted to Bacon, who drew up a _Declaration of the Practices and
Treasons attempted and committed by Robert, late Earl of Essex_, his first
draft being extensively altered and corrected by the queen and council.
Nothing is known with certainty of the reception given to this official
explanation, but the ill-feeling against Bacon was not wholly removed, and
some years later, in 1604, he published, in the form of a letter to
Mountjoy, an _Apology_ for his action in the case. This _Apology_ gives a
most fair and temperate history of the relations between Bacon and Essex,
shows how the prudent counsel of the one had been rejected by the other,
and brings out very clearly what we conceive to be the true explanation of
the matter. Everything that Bacon could do was done by him, until the real
nature of Essex's design was made apparent, and then, as he had repeatedly
told the earl, his devotion and respect were for the queen and state, not
for any subject; friendship could never take rank above loyalty. Those who
blame Bacon must acquit Essex of all wrong-doing.

Bacon's private fortunes, during the period after the death of Essex, were
not in a flourishing condition. He had obtained a grant of £1200 from the
fines imposed on Catesby, one of the conspirators, but his debts were
sufficient to swallow up this and much more. And, though he was trusted by
Elizabeth, and on good terms with her, he seems to have seen that he had no
chance of advancement. But her death in 1603, followed by the undisputed
succession of James, gave him new hopes. He used every means in his power
to bring himself under James's notice, writing to all his friends at the
Scottish court and to the king himself. He managed to obtain a personal
interview with the king, but does not seem to have been much satisfied with
it. In fact, while the king confirmed in their situations those who had
held crown offices under Elizabeth, Bacon, not holding his post by warrant,
was practically omitted. He was, however, continued, by special order of
the king, as learned counsel extraordinary, but little or no law business
appears to have been entrusted to him. He procured, through his cousin
Cecil, the dignity of knighthood, which, contrary to his inclination, he
received along with about 300 others, on the 23rd of July 1603. Between
this time and the opening of James's first parliament he was engaged in
literary work, and sent to the king two pamphlets--one on the Union, the
other on measures for the pacification of the church. Shortly after he
published his _Apology_. In March 1604 parliament met, and during their
short session Bacon's hands seem to have been full of work. It was a busy
and stirring time, and events occurred during it which carried within them
the seeds of much future dissension. Prerogative and privilege came more
than once into collision, the abuses of purveyance and wardship were made
matters of conference, though the thorough discussion of them was deferred
to a succeeding session; while James's temper was irritated by the
objections brought against his favourite scheme of the Union, and by the
attitude taken up by the House with regard to religious affairs. The
records are barely full enough to enable us to judge of the share taken by
Bacon in these discussions; his name generally appears as the reporter of
the committees on special subjects. We can occasionally, however, discern
traces of his tact and remarkable prudence; and, on the whole, his
attitude, particularly with regard to the Union question, recommended him
to James. He was shortly afterwards formally installed as learned counsel,
receiving the salary of £40, and at the same time a pension of £60 yearly.
He was also appointed one of the commission to treat of the conditions
necessary for the Union; and the admirable manner in which the duties of
that body were discharged must be attributed mainly to his influence and
his complete mastery of the subject. During the recess he published his
_Advancement of Learning_, dedicated to the king.

He was now brought into relations with James, and his prospects began to
improve. It is important for us to know what were his ideas upon
government, upon parliaments, prerogative, and so forth, since a knowledge
of this will clear up much that would seem inexplicable in his life. It
seems quite evident[7] that Bacon, from position, early training and, one
might almost think, natural inclination, held as his ideal of government
the Elizabethan system. The king was the supreme power, the centre of law
and justice, and his prerogative must not be infringed. Parliament was
merely a body called to consult with the king on emergencies (_circa ardua
regni_) and to grant supplies. King and parliament together make up the
state, but the former is first in nature and importance. The duty of a
statesman was, therefore, to carry out the royal will in as prudent a
manner as possible; he was the servant of the king, and stood or fell
according to his pleasure. He was not singular in his opinions and he was
undoubtedly sincere; and it is only [v.03 p.0139] by keeping them
constantly in mind that we can understand his after relations with the
king.

In the second parliament there was not so much scope for the exercise of
his powers. The Gunpowder Plot had aroused in the Commons warmer feelings
towards the king; they passed severe laws against recusants, and granted a
triple subsidy. At the same time they continued the collection of the
grievances concerning which they were to move. In the course of this
session Bacon married Alice Barnham "the alderman's daughter, an handsome
maiden, to my liking," of whom he had written some years before to his
cousin Cecil. Little or nothing is known of their married life.

The third parliament was chiefly occupied with the commercial and legal
questions rising out of the proposed Union, in particular, with the dispute
as to the naturalization of the _Post Nati_. Bacon argued ably in favour of
this measure, but the general feeling was against it. The House would only
pass a bill abolishing hostile laws between the kingdoms; but the case of
the _Post Nati_, being brought before the law courts, was settled as the
king wished. Bacon's services were rewarded in June 1607 by the office of
solicitor.[8] Several years passed before he gained another step. Meantime,
though circumstances had thrown him too much into active life, he had not
forgotten his cherished project of reorganizing natural science. A survey
of the ground had been made in the _Advancement_, and some short pieces not
published at the time were probably written in the subsequent two or three
years. Towards the close of 1607 he sent to his friends a small tract,
entitled _Cogitata et Visa_, probably the first draft of what we have under
that title. In 1609 he wrote the noble panegyric, _In felicem memoriam
Elizabethae_, and the curiously learned and ingenious work, _De Sapientia
Veterum_; and completed what seems to have been the _Redargutio
Philosophiarum_, or treatise on the "idols of the theatre."

In 1610 the famous fourth parliament of James met. Prerogative, despite
Bacon's advice and efforts, clashed more than once with liberty;
Salisbury's bold schemes for relieving the embarrassment caused by the
reckless extravagance of the king proved abortive, and the House was
dissolved in February 1611. Bacon took a considerable share in the debates,
consistently upheld the prerogative, and seemed yet to possess the
confidence of the Commons. The death of Salisbury, occurring soon after,
opened a position in which Bacon thought his great political skill and
sagacity might be made more immediately available for the king's service.
How far he directly offered himself for the post of secretary is uncertain,
but we know that his hopes were disappointed, the king himself undertaking
the duties of the office. About the same time he made two ineffectual
applications for the mastership of the wards; the first, on Salisbury's
death, when it was given to Sir George Carey; the second, on the death of
Carey. It is somewhat hard to understand why so little favour was shown by
the king to one who had proved himself able and willing to do good service,
and who, in spite of his disappointments, still continued zealously to
offer advice and assistance. At last in 1613, a fair opportunity for
promotion occurred. The death of Sir Thomas Fleming made a vacancy in the
chief justiceship of the king's bench, and Bacon, after some deliberation,
proposed to the king that Coke should be removed from his place in the
court of common pleas and transferred to the king's bench. He gives several
reasons for this in his letter to the king, but in all probability his
chief motive was that pointed out by Spedding, that in the court of king's
bench there would be less danger of Coke coming into collision with the
king on questions of prerogative, in handling which Bacon was always very
circumspect and tender. The vacancy caused by Coke's promotion was then
filled up by Hobart, and Bacon, finally, stepped into the place of
attorney-general. The fact of this advice being offered and followed in all
essentials, illustrates very clearly the close relations between the king
and Bacon, who had become a confidential adviser on most occasions of
difficulty. That his adherence to the royal party was already noticed and
commented on appears from the significant remark of Chamberlain, who, after
mentioning the recent changes among the law officials, says, "There is a
strong apprehension that ... Bacon may prove a dangerous instrument."

Further light is thrown upon Bacon's relations with James, and upon his
political sympathies, by the letter to the king advocating the calling of a
parliament,[9] and by the two papers of notes on which his letter was
founded.[10] These documents, even after due weight is given to all
considerations urged in their favour,[11] seem to confirm the view already
taken of Bacon's theory of government, and at the same time show that his
sympathies with the royal party tended to blind him to the true character
of certain courses of action, which can only be justified by a straining of
political ethics. The advice he offered, in all sincerity, was most prudent
and sagacious, and _might_ have been successfully carried out by a man of
Bacon's tact and skill; but it was intensely one-sided, and exhibited a
curious want of appreciation of what was even then beginning to be looked
on as the true relation of king, parliament and people. Unfortunately for
James, he could neither adopt nor carry out Bacon's policy. The parliament
which met in April 1614, in which Bacon sat for Cambridge University, and
was dissolved in June, after a stormy session, was by no means in a frame
of mind suitable for the king's purposes. The House was enraged at the
supposed project (then much misunderstood) of the "Undertakers"; objection
was taken to Bacon being elected or serving as a member while holding
office as attorney-general; and, though an exception was made in his
favour, it was resolved that no attorney-general should in future be
eligible for a seat in parliament. No supply was granted, and the king's
necessities were increased instead of diminished. The emergency suggested
to some of the bishops the idea of a voluntary contribution, which was
eagerly taken up by the noblemen and crown officials. The scheme was
afterwards extended so as to take in the whole kingdom, but lost something
of its voluntary character, and the means taken to raise the money, which
were not what Bacon would have recommended,[12] were calculated to stir up
discontent. The general dissatisfaction received a somewhat unguarded and
intemperate expression in a letter sent to the justices of Marlborough by a
gentleman of the neighbourhood, named Oliver St John,[13] in which he
denounced the attempt to raise funds in this way as contrary to law, reason
and religion, as constituting in the king personally an act of perjury,
involving in the same crime those who contributed, and thereby subjecting
all parties to the curses levelled by the church at such offences. St John
was summoned before the Star Chamber for slander and treasonable language;
and Bacon, _ex officio_, acted as public prosecutor. The sentence
pronounced (a fine of £5000 and imprisonment for life) was severe, but it
was not actually inflicted, and probably was not intended to be carried
out, the success of the prosecution being all that was desired. St John
remained a short time in prison, and was then released, after making a full
apology and submission. The fine was remitted. It seems incredible that
Bacon's conduct on this occasion should have been censured by his
biographers. The offence was clear; the law was undoubted; no particular
sympathy was excited for the culprit; the sentence was not carried out; and
Bacon did only what any one in his place would naturally and necessarily
have done. The nature of his office involved him in several trials for
treason occurring about the same time, and one of these is of interest
sufficient to require a somewhat longer examination. Edmund Peacham[14] had
been [v.03 p.0140] committed to custody for a libel on his superior, James
Montagu (1568?-1618), bishop of Bath and Wells. In searching his house for
certain papers, the officers came upon some loose sheets stitched together
in the form of a sermon, the contents of which were of such a nature that
it was judged right to lay them before the council. As it was at first
suspected that the writing of this book had been prompted by some
disaffected persons, Peacham was interrogated, and after he had declined to
give any information, was subjected to torture. Bacon, as one of the
learned counsel, was ordered by the council to take part in this
examination, which was undoubtedly warranted by precedent, whatever may now
be thought of it. Nothing, however, was extracted from Peacham in this way,
and it was resolved to proceed against him for treason. Now, in the excited
state of popular feeling at that period, the failure of government to
substantiate an accusation of treason would have been a serious matter. The
king, with whom the council agreed, seems therefore to have thought it
desirable to obtain beforehand the opinions of the four chief judges as to
whether the alleged offence amounted to treason. In this there was nothing
unusual or illegal, and no objection would at that time have been made to
it, but James introduced a certain innovation; he proposed that the
opinions of the four judges should be given separately and in private. It
may be reasonably inferred that his motive for this was the suspicion, or
it may be the knowledge, that Coke did not consider the matter treasonable.
At all events when Coke, who as a councillor already knew the facts of the
case, was consulted regarding the new proposal of the king, he at once
objected to it, saying that "this particular and auricular taking of
opinions" was "new and dangerous," and "not according to the custom of the
realm." He at last reluctantly assented, and proposed that Bacon should
consult with him, while the other law officers addressed themselves to the
three puisne judges. By Bacon's directions the proposal to the three judges
to give their opinions separately was made suddenly and confidently, and
any scruples they might have felt were easily overcome. The first step was
thus gained, and it was hoped that if "infusion" could be avoided, if the
papers bearing on the case were presented to the judges quickly, and before
their minds could be swayed by extraneous influence, their decision on the
case would be the same as that of the king. It is clear that the extraneous
influence to be feared was Coke, who, on being addressed by Bacon, again
objected to giving his opinion separately, and even seemed to hope that his
brother judges after they had seen the papers would withdraw their assent
to giving their decisions privately. Even after the discussion of the case
with Bacon, he would not give his opinion until the others had handed in
theirs. What the other judges thought is not definitely known, but Bacon
appears to have been unable to put in operation the plan he had devised for
swaying Coke's judgment,[15] or if he did attempt it, he was unsuccessful,