Universität Regensburg

Department of English and American Studies

Summer term 2014

Hauptseminar: Early Modern Voyages and Quests

Dr. Catherine Gimelli Martin

Francis Bacon’s New Atlantis: a Christian Utopia?

Sara Davì

Matriculation number: 1707572

Via Burana 4 Agazzano (PC)

29010 IT

sara.davi01@ateneopv.it

Telephone number: +39 3335460712

Table of Contents

Introduction................................................................................................. 1

1. Landing on Bensalem........................................................................ 2

2. Bensalem‟s conversion..................................................................... 4

3. Bensalem‟s society and institutions ............................................... 9

4. Corpus analysis............................................................................... 11

5. Bibliography.....................................................................................14

1

Introduction

Throughout the last decades many scholars have analysed New Atlantis by

Francis Bacon considering it primarily as a scientific and social utopia. However

religion plays no secondary role in the book. References to the Bible are ubiquitous and

the way in which Christianity is revealed to Bensalem is extraordinary: a multiple

miracle. Revelation and Pentecost happen at the same time. In this essay the religious

elements will be given a pivotal role. They will be analysed in order to understand to

what extent Bacon considered Christianity important in his utopia, or if its presence is

just marginal.

The argumentation is divided in four parts. The first section is dedicated to the

landing of the Europeans on Bensalem. The first part of the book in fact is full of

biblical references and it will be shown how science is actually subordinate to religion.

The second and main part of this essay is dedicated to the analysis of the

conversion of Bensalem. This episode has divided the opinion of literary critics and the

importance of the religious element in the whole utopia depends on its interpretation.

Starting from some well known interpretations, and using other texts written by Bacon

as sources, the importance of religion will be claimed, and, to some extent, a new

interpretation of the miracle will be offered.

As New Atlantis has often been considered not only a scientific, but also a social

utopia, in the third chapter some of Bensalem‟s institutions will be very briefly analysed

in order to understand how religion and society are closely intertwined.

In the end a new perspective will be introduced. New Atlantis will be analysed

through the aid of some simple tools used in corpus analysis, mainly wordlists and

KWIC views. These tools can be very helpful in a scientific analysis of a literary text.

This perspective might signal some overseen or overrated data and will be used to

confirm that religion is not a negligible part of Bacon‟s utopia.

2

1. Landing on Bensalem

In the first lines of the book the narrator, whose name will remain unknown for the

duration of the story, makes a short summary of the events that drove him and the

members of his crew almost to shipwreck. Strong winds and lack of victuals brought

them to despair, but a gift sent from heaven let them hope: dry land. It is meaningful

that the very beginning of the novel corresponds to the beginning of the Bible. The

narrator makes a clear reference to Genesis by writing “he in the beginning he

discovered the face of the deep, and brought forth dry land.”1 In Genesis (1:9) it is

written “and God said, let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one

place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.”

What they find in the attempt of landing is even more astonishing than the

appearance of land. They are approached by kind people, who offer them food, shelter

and help for their sick. They receive a letter written in different languages giving them

instructions on how to behave in order to be given permission to land; on the letter there

is a stamp of cherubins‟ wings and a cross. They seem to be relieved by these signs,

maybe taking them as a guarantee that the population living on the island was not

savage or cannibal. In popular travel narrative it was actually quite common, and it still

is, to set novels in unknown territories not reached by progress, where the population is

heathen and sometimes cannibal. However before being able to land they have to

answer a question “Are you Christians?”2. They are also asked to swear that they are not

pirates and that they have not shed blood in the previous forty days. It is not actually

clear why forty days is chosen as the term for the admittance of murderers in what will

turn out to be a perfect Christian society, maybe a reference to the forty days of Jesus in

the desert. This is one of the many points that remains to some extent unclear. The

commandment “Thou shalt not kill” does not actually have any escape clause

concerning time.

The crew is thereafter brought into the Strangers‟ House where they are welcomed

with different kinds of conveniences and the sick are cured. At this point there is a

1 Francis Bacon, “New Atlantis.” Three Early Modern Utopias: Utopia, New Atlantis, and the Isle of

Pines. Ed. Susan Bruce (Oxford: Oxford UP, 2008), 152. 2 Ibid. 154.

3

second reference to a very common passage of the Bible: the episode of Jonah and the

whale.

We are men cast on land, as Jonas was out of the whale‟s belly, when we were as buried in the

deep: and now we are on land, we are but between death and life; for we are beyond both the old

world and the new; and whether ever we shall see Europe, God only knoweth. It is a kind of

miracle hath brought us hither: and it shall be little less that shall bring us hence.3

The episode of Jonah and the whale is probably one of the best known of the

Holy Scripture, and this might be the reason why Bacon decided to insert it into his

book. However it might also draw some light on the past of the sailors. As a matter of

fact no information about their past is given. But considering that Jonah was swallowed

by the whale as a divine punishment4, it could be assumed that the crew might have

some sin to expiate too. The narrator, in fact, does not simply consider the island,

Bensalem, as a safe place, but as a true “land of angels”5. Moreover, the choice of the

word „miracle‟ to describe the appearance of the island, as reported in the passage

above, is also significant. For the narrator, in fact, the discovery of Bensalem is not

merely a fortunate event, it is providential. This word choice should not be interpreted

metaphorically. Bacon is actually very careful in the use of the word „miracle‟. In the

whole book there are three other instances of this word and they all refer to the miracle

through which Bensalem was converted (this topic will be discussed extensively in the

next chapter). The threefold repetition of the same word form is, in itself, not

particularly significant, even if the major part of word forms composing a book are

unique, but the fact that the lemma „miracle‟ always appears in a similar context points

to the fact that its meaning is unique.

This island has something „supernatural‟ for the narrator: the kindness of the

people and the knowledge they possess go beyond human capabilities. Nevertheless it

should also be admitted that the narrator does not make any serious effort to understand

how the means used by Bensalemites works; the fact that it works is enough for him.

3 Bacon, New Atlantis, 156-7.

4 Jonah refused to preach in Nineveh and escaped to Tarshish by boat. Since he refused to accomplish

God‟s order the boat was caught in a tempest. The only way for the mariners to survive was to throw

Jonah into the sea. Jonah was swallowed by a big fish and lived in its belly for three days, until God,

listening to Jonah‟s prayers released him. (Jonah 1-2) 5 Bacon, New Atlantis, 158.

4

This should appear at the very least unusual in a book which is primarily considered a

scientific utopia.

One example will be enough to clarify this point. Some mariners are cured with

a fruit that resembles an orange but of a different colour. However no explanation is

given as to how or why it works. Even when the narrator is given the chance to ask

questions, this topic is not touched, instead he asks how the island was converted.

Maybe it is true that New Atlantis is mainly concerned with natural philosophy, but the

narrator is definitely no man of science, his main concern does not seem to be to acquire

new knowledge. On the contrary he seems rather overwhelmed with the novelty and

spends most of his time thanking the inhabitants for their kindness. He is, to use

Weinberger‟s words, quite „fishy‟6. He asks the governor to accept him and his crew “as

his true servants”7 and defines himself as “confused with joy and kindness”

8, not

exactly what one would expect from an explorer or scientist.

2. Bensalem’s conversion

As was hinted above, the narrator is interested in knowing how Bensalem was

converted to Christianity. The person answering his question is a Christian priest, who

is also one of the governors of the island. He narrates that twenty years after the

ascension of Christ, a pillar of light, topped by a cross, appeared a few miles from the

coast of Renfusa (a city nearby) people gathered around it, but only a wise man,

member of Salomon‟s House, a society of scientists, could go near it, while the other

people, assembled around the pillar, were stuck in their ships and could not go any

further. The pillar vanished and an ark was found floating on the water; it contained a

book and a letter. The book was the Bible and it included all the canonical books, also

those not written at the time. The letter was written by Saint Bartholomew, who testified

for the truthfulness of the miracle. Moreover the Holy Scripture could be understood by

people speaking different languages.

6 Weinberger, Jerry “On the Miracles in Bacon‟s New Atlantis.” Francis Bacon‟s New Atlantis. New

Interdisciplinary Essays. Ed. Bronwen Price. (Manchester: Manchester UP), 108. 7 Bacon, New Atlantis, 158.

8 Ibid.

5

After this brief summary of the events that brought Christianity to Bensalem, it

should appear unusual that so many miraculous events happened at one time in one

place. Scholars have debated this part of the book extensively, but many elements

remain opaque.

First of all, the place where the miracle occurs: Renfusa. This point has not been

commented upon extensively, but might have an unexpected importance. This city is

located on the eastern coast of the island. In his previous appearance the governor had

given an order to the strangers “none of you must go above a karan’ ( [...] a mile and a

half) from the walls of the city, without especial leave”9. As Renfusa is another city, it

could be assumed that the Europeans cannot visit the place of the miracle, at least not

without special permission. It is strange to think that the area has not been turned into a

pilgrimage destination. Renaker interprets the choice of the sea, as the place for the

appearance of the pillar, as a calculated decision; he writes “simply by locating his

miracle one mile offshore, Bacon has obviated millennia of superstitious practices”10

.

Also the absence of Saint Bartholomew, who just leaves a written statement, is read as a

calculated and “exquisitely appropriate11

” choice of the author, whose intention is only

to authenticate a book and not a group of men.

The content of the book is quite extraordinary too, and could be interpreted as a

miracle itself. The issue of apocryphal books, in fact, had inflamed the religious debate

for centuries and was not solved until 1546 in the Council of Trent, the history of which

is long and troubled. At this point it should be clear why Bacon decides to give his

utopian island a complete version of the Bible. As DeCook points out, this

“unproblematic canon”12

, revealed to the Bensalemites, allows them to avoid centuries

of theological debate.

Another point is that the person narrating the event has often been considered

unreliable13

as he makes references to the laws of secrecy that protect the island.

9 Bacon, New Atlantis, 158.

10Renaker, David “A Miracle of Engineering: The Conversion of Bensalem in Francis Bacon‟s New

Atlantis.” Studies in Philology, 188. 11

Renaker “A Miracle of Engineering: The Conversion of Bensalem in Francis Bacon‟s New

Atlantis.”192. 12

DeCook, Travis “The Ark and Immediate Revelation in Francis Bacon‟s New Atlantis.” Studies in

Philology, 114.

13 See Renaker “A Miracle of Engineering: The Conversion of Bensalem in Francis Bacon‟s New

Atlantis.”

6

Therefore the story could have been at least partly changed or censored. But there is

also another man that has been considered even more unreliable than the governor: the

eyewitness. As a member of Salomon‟s House one would expect a scientific approach

to this miracle, but his reaction to this incredible vision is all but scientific. He prays

and says:

“Lord God of heaven and earth, thou hast vouchsafed of thy grace to those of our order, to know

thy works of creation, and the secrets of them; and to discern (as far as appertaineth to the

generation of men) between divine miracles, works of nature, works of art and impostures and

illusions of all sorts.” 14

He is the one who decides that this is a true miracle, but there is actually no

reason why he should be trusted. Moreover Bacon writes that the members of

Salomon‟s House have the capability of deceiving the senses and rendering things more

miraculous.

The major point should not be to understand if the miracle is true or not, but to

understand why Bacon stated that deceiving the senses was one of the possibilities of

the members of Salomon‟s House, if he really wanted the readers to believe in the

veracity of the miracle. There are different possible answers to this question.

He might have been incredibly inattentive and actually wanted readers to believe

in the miracle. If this were true, then he would have added the ability to deceive among

the capabilities of the scientists just to state their superior knowledge, without realising

that they could create some issues of credibility. However this seems to be rather

unlikely.

One could also picture Bacon as an atheist who wants his readers to understand

that God is just an invention. However this idea is unfounded. Bacon in fact writes

about atheism in his essays and considers it rare as even those people who are often

considered atheists by society believe in God.

The Scripture saith, The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God; it is not said, The fool hath

thought in his heart; so as he rather saith it, by rote to himself, as that he would have, than that he

can thoroughly believe it, or be persuaded of it. For none deny, there is a God, but those, for

14

Bacon, New Atlantis, 160.

7

whom it maketh that there were no God. It appeareth in nothing more, that atheism is rather in

the lip, than in the heart of man [...].15

Considering the points analysed above, the only possible answer which remains

is that Bacon‟s way of understanding religion is multifaceted and therefore it is

impossible to give a simple answer.

One thing to notice is that Bacon never writes about Protestants or Catholics, but

instead writes about Christians in general. It is well known that in Bacon‟s time

contrasts between Churches increased, so by using a general term, he efficiently creates

a Christian utopia. He avoids centuries of religious contrasts by unifying different

Churches. However, as Renaker points out, the only way Bacon had to fulfil his wish

for a peaceful Protestant Europe was a miracle.

It is connotative of utopian narrative to create a perfect world, and for Bacon this

meant a place where God is included. Faith distinguishes people from beasts, but

religious controversies should not take time to the debate in natural philosophy.

Therefore he „stages‟ a perfect and complete miracle in which every single issue that

had committed philosophers is solved. The verb „stage‟ is not chosen accidentally.

Many researchers have noticed the amount of words taken from the semantic field of

„spectacle‟ that Bacon uses, to confirm that the miracle is fake.

Upon so strange a spectacle, the people of the city gathered apace together upon the sands, to

wonder; and so after put themselves into a number of small boats, to go nearer to this marvellous

sight. [...] so as the boats stood all as in a theatre, beholding this light as an heavenly sign.16

The choice of words like „theatre‟ and „spectacle‟ seem to support this

hypothesis, however another interpretation might be valid as well. Not only the

semantic field of „spectacle‟ is stressed, but also that of „sight‟. Sight is one of the five

senses that is mostly related to natural philosophy and experiments in general. The

observation of nature is the starting point of scientific analysis. The miracle could

therefore be interpreted as a natural event, but as its cause cannot be found in nature, it

15

Francis Bacon, Essays, Advancement of Learning, New Atlantis and other Pieces. Ed. Richard Foster

Jones. (New York: The Odyssey Press), 47. 16

Bacon, New Atlantis, 159.

8

must be divine. Unfortunately this explanation is not acceptable in modern society. This

is Weinberger‟s position.

The problem is that it is impossible for science demonstrably to establish the reality of miracles.

That there is no scientifically known cause for an apparent miracle does not establish that it is in

fact a miracle, rather than just something we cannot yet explain.17

This is certainly true, but it is exactly in a scientific society that miracles are

needed. As Weinberger points out, materialism and self-interest would be the results of

a society only founded on science. For Bacon, as it was reported above, faith is the

element that distinguishes people from beasts, and must therefore be preserved, but as

he claims in his essays, the causes of atheism are multiple.

The causes of atheism are: divisions in religion, [...] Another is, scandal of priests [...] A third is,

custom of profane scoffing in holy matters [...] And lastly, learned times, specially with peace

and prosperity; for troubles and adversities do more bow men‟s minds to religion.18

In New Atlantis Bacon can successfully avoid all the causes of atheism and the

miracle plays a crucial role in accomplishing this task. In his ideal island there are only

Christians and no internal divisions. The person narrating the story is a priest and he is

often praised for his virtues of humanity, kindness and knowledge. Unconditioned faith

avoids blasphemy. In the end, Bensalem is represented as the epitome of peace and

prosperity and therefore it needs an infallible and irreproachable religion. This is what

Bacon creates: a miracle so perfect that it would be irrefutable even to the most

sceptical and scientific mind.

17

Weinberger “On the Miracles in Bacon‟s New Atlantis.” 113. 18

Francis Bacon, Essays, Advancement of Learning, New Atlantis and other Pieces. Ed. Richard Foster

Jones. (New York: The Odyssey Press), 48.

9

3. Bensalem’s society and institutions

New Atlantis has often been considered a social utopia. Bacon in fact gives a

detailed description of the society and its institutions. In this chapter an attempt to

understand to what extent religion is included in the society will be made. References to

prayers and God are spread throughout the text. Innes writes that “the book seems to be

designed to show the compatibility of Christianity and modern science to a generation

of religious authorities which was sceptical of this new learning”.19

First of all, Salomon‟s House, the most important institution on the island

obviously takes its name from King Salomon. The Bensalemites don‟t only praise him

as a great king, but they apparently own a book written by him about natural history that

king Solamona, the greatest of their kings, admired particularly. This institution also has

another name, the College of the Six Days Work, a clear reference to divine creation.

The aim of this society is “the study of the Works and Creatures of God”20

. This

sentence seems to confirm Innes theory. It is also interesting to notice how trade is

bound to divine creation. In fact Bensalemites do not trade gold or silver but only light,

which is God‟s first creation. This light is of course the light that appears on the very

first day of the creation of the world, but also the light of knowledge. Bacon joins

science and religion, not only by giving the institutions names that echo the Bible, he

goes further: the founder of the temple of Jerusalem becomes a scientist himself,

creating the perfect mixture of science and faith that he wished for.

After the description of Salomon‟s House, another institution is described: the

family. He represents it on a very special occasion, the Feast of the Family. It is a

celebration of fertility; every man who lives long enough to have thirty descendants is

celebrated. Also, on this occasion, that recalls a pagan festival of the harvest21

, many

references to Christianity can be found. The family members meet after divine service.

During the feast a hymn is sung by the patriarch.

19

David Innes “Bacon‟s New Atlantis: The Christian hope and the modern hope.” Journal of Political

Philosophy, 5. 20

Bacon, New Atlantis, 167. 21

The possible origins of this festival have been analysed in detail by many scholars. For more

information see Suzanne Smith “The New Atlantis: Francis Bacon‟s Theological-Political Utopia?”

10

Varied according to the invention of him that composeth it [...], the subject of it is (always) the

praises of Adam and Noah and Abraham. Whereof the former two peopled the world, and the

last was the Father of the Faithful: concluding ever with a thanksgiving for the nativity of the

Saviour, in whose birth the births of all are only blessed.22

In the analysis of this book many scholars have underlined the fact that Bacon

never describes a church, a Mass or any sacrament. This point, in fact, remains to some

extent opaque. Maybe he did not want to describe any religious building in order not to

face the problem of iconoclasm and the different positions of the Churches in this

matter. However it is also plausible that he reframed Christianity according to his

wishes. He goes back to the Christianity of the origins, praising fertility, virginity,

devotion and fidelity. Ecclesiastical hierarchies are not included23

; we know there are

priests, but nothing else is added. Therefore, one could assume that Bacon‟s main

interest was not in describing Christian institutions in Bensalem. In his utopian vision

Christianity seems to be more an inner disposition to goodness and love. What derives

from faith is just happiness. For this reason New Atlantis could be considered a

Christian utopia. The acclamation pronounced during the feast is, in fact, “Happy are

the people in Bensalem”24

. This feeling of happiness has been criticised by Weinberger,

who writes “the Bensalemites appear to have been denatured. Their happiness seems

that of contented cows, their orderliness lobotomised”25

. It can be admitted that Bacon‟s

description of the Bensalemites‟ behaviour sounds to some extent naive, but it should be

remembered that New Atlantis is a utopia, and Bacon can hardly be blamed for wishing

for happiness.

22

Bacon, New Atlantis, 171. 23

In the previous chapter it was pointed out how scandals with priests are among the causes of atheism. 24

Bacon, New Atlantis, 170. 25

Weinberger “On the Miracles in Bacon‟s New Atlantis.” 107.

11

4. Corpus analysis

As reported in the previous sections many scholars consider New Atlantis a

scientific and social utopia, attributing to religion only a minor or negligible role.

Through an analysis of some selected parts of the text it was shown that Christianity has

a pivotal function in the realisation of Bacon‟s utopia. In order to support this theory, it

would be useful to use new techniques of text analysis. For this reason, in this last

section New Atlantis will be analysed with the aid of some tools used in corpus analysis.

Software26

will process the text: by uploading New Atlantis to the software, a corpus

will be created. In this case, the corpus is composed of only one book and not a

selection of texts.

This kind of approach is often very helpful, in fact it allows to look at a known

text from a different point of view. The computer, in fact, considers the words which

comprise a corpus, namely „tokens‟27

, as equal and does not give them any specific

status, allowing a more impartial analysis of the text. First of all a wordlist can be

created. A wordlist shows all the words used in the text and their frequency. Words can

be listed alphabetically or according to frequency, in this case the second way of

representation is more efficient. Function words, as they are always the most frequent,

will not be reported. The most frequent content words, in this case only nouns, will be

listed instead.

7.Parts/ Years 17

The first four words reported above do not show any unexpected results. These

are almost always the most frequent word forms used in texts of fiction. Word number

26

The program used is Textstat 2.7. 27

A token is an occurrence of any word form. A type is a word form.

1. Men 33

2. Things, Time 28

3. People 25

4. Day 24

5. Strangers 20

6. God 19

7. Parts, Years 17

8. Light 16

9. Family 15

10. Ship, Water, Number 14

11. City 13

12. Inventor 12

12

five instead signals a more important point. The narrator of the text is in fact a

„stranger‟, a European landed in Bensalem because of the adverse conditions of the sea.

Therefore it is not surprising to find words like „ship‟ and „water‟ in tenth position.

However, the most useful words to confirm the theory exposed in this essay are

numbers 6, 8, 9 and 12. They represent all the main topics of the book, including

religion. Considering that most of the word forms used in a text are unique, a high

frequency definitely signals their importance at a content level. The interpretation of

New Atlantis as a religious, social and scientific utopia seems to be founded.

The word „God‟ signals the religious topic, while „light‟ can be associated both

with science and religion (Light as God‟s first creation and the light of knowledge).

Words like „family‟ and „inventor‟ confirm the interpretation of the book as a social and

scientific utopia.

It is often useful to consider words in a broader context, in order to understand if

their meaning is unique, and in which circumstances they are used. The KWIC view

(Key Word in Context) of the word „God‟ is reported below.

1. We did lift up our hearts an voices to God above, who showeth his wonders

2. The gesture they use, when they thank God), and then said: “if you will swear

3. Which he took of desolate strangers, God would reward.” And so six of us

4. All affection and respect, and said, “God surely is manifested in this land

5. Whether ever we shall see Europe, God only knoweth. It is a kind of miracle

6. And to come, let us look up to God, and every man reform his own ways

7. Have an eye upon us. Therefore, for God‟s love, and as we love the weal

8. As we may be at peace with God and may find grace in the eyes

9. His prayers in this manner: “Lord God of heaven and earth; thou hast

10. Declare unto that people where God shall ordain this ark to come

11. Of the works and creatures of God. Some think it beareth the founder

12. Had learned from the Hebrews that God had created the world and all that

13. Nature of all things, whereby God might have the more glory

14. Commodity of matter; but only for God‟s first creature, which was light

15. Sons, it is well you are born, give God the praise, and persevere to the end

16. Man; and he would tell how God made him ruler of the seraphim

17. To me thus in the Spanish tongue: “God bless thee, my son, and God bless

18. Impart unto thee, for the love of God and men, a relation of

19. Daily, of laud and thanks to God for his marvellous works.

20. Hand upon my head, and said : “God bless thee, my son, and

13

21. “God bless thee, my son, and God bless this relation which I have

22. Other nations; for we here are in God‟s bosom. A land unknown.”

As can be seen, there are twenty-two instances instead of nineteen, as in the

KWIC view, word forms preceded by inverted-commas or followed by the Saxon

genitive are included.

Almost all of these occurrences can be subdivided into three types. First of all

there is a group of fixed expressions (1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21). Secondly, the

idea of God as creator and father (11, 12, 14, 16, 22). Finally God as worth gratitude

and glory (2, 4, 13, 15, 16,19).

Without doubt „God‟ has a unique meaning in this book: he is the creator of

heaven and earth, worth glory and respect. The use of the word „God‟ in so many fixed

expressions can be interpreted as a sign that faith is so constitutive of this society, that it

has become part of everyday language.

The analysis of the corpus seems to confirm the hypothesis expressed in the

previous chapters. Christianity is a constitutive element in Bacon‟s utopia. The island he

imagines is pervaded by signs of God, it is therefore a Christian utopia.

14

5. Bibliography

Bacon, Francis “New Atlantis.” Three Early Modern Utopias: Utopia, New Atlantis,

and the Isle of Pines. Ed. Susan Bruce. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2008. Print.

Essays, Advancement of Learning, New Atlantis and other Pieces. Ed.

Richard Foster Jones. New York: The Odyssey Press, 1937. 3-235. Print.

Aughterson, Kate “The Waking Vision: Reference in the New Atlantis.” Renaissance

Quarterly 45.1 (Spring 1992): 119-139.

DeCook, Travis “The Ark and Immediate Revelation in Francis Bacon‟s New Atlantis.”

Studies in Philology 105.1 (Winter 2008): 103-122. Print.

“Jewish Dreams: The Specter of the Millennium in New Atlantis.”

Studies in Philology 110.1 (Winter 2013): 115-131. Print.

Innes, David “Bacon‟s New Atlantis: The Christian hope and the modern hope.”

Journal of Political Philosophy 22.1 (Fall 1993): 3-39. Web.

Renaker, David “A Miracle of Engineering: The Conversion of Bensalem in Francis

Bacon‟s New Atlantis.” Studies in Philology 87.2 181-194. Print.

Weinberger, Jerry “On the Miracles in Bacon‟s New Atlantis.” Francis Bacon‟s New

Atlantis. New Interdisciplinary Essays. Ed. Bronwen Price. Manchester:

Manchester UP. 106-128. Web.