BACON, ROGER (1214?-1294).--Philosopher, studied at Oxford and Paris. His scientific acquirements, regarded in that age as savouring of witchcraft, and doubtless also his protests against the ignorance and immorality of the clergy, excited the jealousy and hatred of the Franciscans, and he was in consequence imprisoned at Paris for ten years. Clement IV., who had been a sympathiser, desired on his accession to see his works, and in response B. sent him _Opus Majus_, a treatise on the sciences (grammar, logic, mathematics, physics, and philosophy), followed by _Opus Secundum_ and _Opus Tertium_. Clement, however, was near death when they arrived. B. was comparatively free from persecution for the next ten years. But in 1278 he was again imprisoned for upwards of ten years. At the intercession of some English noblemen he was at last released, and spent his remaining years at Oxford. He possessed one of the most commanding intellects of his own, or perhaps of any, age, and, notwithstanding all the disadvantages and discouragements to which he was subjected, made many discoveries, and came near to many more. There is still preserved at Oxford a rectified calendar in which he approximates closely to the truth. He received the sobriquet of the "Doctor Mirabilis." BAGE, ROBERT (1728-1801).--Novelist, _b._ in Derbyshire, was the _s._ of a paper-maker. It was not until he was 53 that he took to literature; but in the 15 years following he produced 6 novels, of which Sir Walter Scott says that "strong mind, playful fancy, and extensive knowledge are everywhere apparent." B., though brought up as a Quaker, imbibed the principles of the French Revolution. He was an amiable and benevolent man, and highly esteemed. _Hermsprong; or, Man as He is Not_ (1796) is considered the best of his novels, of which it was the last. The names of the others are _Mount Kenneth_ (1781), _Barham Downs_ (1784), _The Fair Syrian_ (1787), _James Wallace_ (1788), and _Man as He is_ (1792). BAGEHOT, WALTER (1826-1877).--Economist, _s._ of a banker, _b._ at Langport, Somerset, _ed._ at University Coll., London, and called to the Bar, but did not practise, and joined his _f._ in business. He wrote for various periodicals, and from 1860 was editor of _The Economist_. He was the author of _The English Constitution_ (1867), a standard work which was translated into several languages; _Physics and Politics_ (1872), and _Lombard Street_ (1873), a valuable financial work. A collection of essays, biographical and economic, was _pub._ after his death.