If Michel de Montaigne established the essay as a form of inquiry, Francis Bacon transformed it into a form of observation.
The two men were near contemporaries. Montaigne’s Essais first appeared in 1580. Bacon’s first collection of essays was published in 1597, less than two decades later. Yet despite their proximity in time, they approached the emerging form in strikingly different ways.
Montaigne explored. Bacon examined. Montaigne followed questions wherever they led. Bacon sought to distil experience into insight. Together, they established two traditions that continue to shape essay writing today.
A New Age of Knowledge
Francis Bacon (1561-1626) lived at the threshold of the modern world. England was expanding its influence abroad. Commerce was increasing. Scientific inquiry was beginning to challenge ancient authorities. The habits of thought inherited from the medieval world were slowly giving way to new methods of observation and investigation. Bacon stood at the centre of this transformation.
As a lawyer, statesman, philosopher and writer, he became one of the most influential advocates of empirical inquiry. Rather than relying solely on inherited wisdom, Bacon argued that knowledge should be grounded in careful observation of the world. Understanding, he believed, should emerge from experience rather than authority. This commitment shaped both his philosophy and his essays.
The Essay as Instrument
Montaigne’s essays often resemble conversations with himself. They wander through memory, example, recollection and reflection. The reader accompanies the movement of a mind at work.
Bacon’s essays are different. They are concise. They are direct. They are structured around a subject and proceed towards an insight. Many are only a few pages long. Titles such as Of Truth, Of Studies, Of Friendship, Of Travel and Of Ambition indicate their practical orientation. Bacon was less interested in recording the process of thought than in presenting what observation had revealed.
This difference is significant. Montaigne turned inward to discover what could be known. Bacon looked outward to discover how the world worked. The essay became, in his hands, a tool for examining experience.
Observation Before Reflection
Bacon’s contribution to essayism lies partly in his insistence that inquiry begin with observation.
The world, he believed, contained patterns that could be discovered through careful attention. Human judgement was often clouded by habit, prejudice and assumption. The task of inquiry was to overcome these limitations. This approach is visible throughout the essays.
Rather than beginning with abstract theories, Bacon frequently starts with examples drawn from ordinary life. He observes how people behave, how power operates, how friendships endure, how learning develops, and how ambition shapes conduct. The essay becomes a method for extracting principles from experience.
Where Montaigne asks:
What can I know?
Bacon asks:
What can I observe?
Both questions remain central to essayism.
The Art of Compression
Bacon introduced another important element to the essay tradition: compression. Many of his essays are remarkable for their density. Ideas are condensed into concise statements. Observations become aphorisms. Entire arguments are reduced to a sentence or two.
His famous remark that “some books are to be tasted, others swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested” illustrates the method perfectly. An extended discussion is compressed into a memorable image.
This style has exerted a lasting influence. Subsequent generations of essayists repeatedly returned to Bacon’s example when seeking clarity, economy and force. The essay no longer needed to be expansive. It could achieve significance through concentration. The modern short essay owes much to Bacon’s practice.
From Experience to Principle
Perhaps Bacon’s most important contribution was his ability to move between the particular and the general. An observation about a conversation becomes an insight into friendship. A reflection on reading becomes an exploration of learning. An account of political behaviour becomes an examination of power. Bacon understood that individual experiences often reveal broader patterns.
Essayism continues to depend upon this movement. A successful essay does not merely report events. It discovers their significance. It reveals relationships that were not immediately visible. The ordinary becomes a gateway to wider understanding.
Bacon demonstrated how this might be accomplished with precision and restraint.
A Different Kind of Essayist
Bacon and Montaigne are often presented as founders of two opposing traditions. The contrast is real. Montaigne is personal. Bacon is impersonal. Montaigne embraces uncertainty. Bacon seeks judgement. Montaigne records inquiry. Bacon presents conclusions.
Yet the distinction should not be exaggerated. Both writers rejected the simple repetition of authority. Both trusted observation more than doctrine. Both used writing as a means of understanding. Most importantly, both expanded the possibilities of the essay.
Montaigne established the form. Bacon demonstrated what else it could become.
Bacon’s Legacy
The influence of Bacon extends far beyond the history of literature. His commitment to observation helped shape the development of modern science. His approach encouraged generations of thinkers to ground their understanding in evidence rather than assumption.
Within essayism, however, his contribution is more specific. He showed that the essay could be practical without becoming merely instructional. He showed that observation could lead to insight. He showed that brevity could produce depth.
Most importantly, he demonstrated that inquiry requires more than introspection. It also requires attention to the world beyond the self. The essayist must not merely examine personal experience. The essayist must learn to observe.
The Contribution to Essayism
If Montaigne gave essayism its spirit, Bacon gave it one of its essential disciplines. Montaigne taught essayists to question. Bacon taught them to look. Montaigne revealed the value of inquiry. Bacon revealed the value of observation. Together, they established a tradition that continues to shape reflective writing more than four centuries later.
Every essay that begins with careful attention to experience, identifies a pattern, and develops an insight from observation remains indebted to Francis Bacon. His essays remind us that understanding does not emerge only from thinking about the world. It also emerges from looking at it.
Further Reading
- Francis Bacon, Essays (1597, expanded editions 1612 and 1625).
- Of Truth
- Of Studies
- Of Friendship
- The Advancement of Learning (1605)
This essay draws upon Bacon’s essays and his wider philosophy of observation, inquiry and empirical knowledge.