...affairs, nor in regard of my continual service ; which is the cause that hath made me choose to write certain brief notes, set down rather significantly...meditations, though conveyed in the form of epistles." Evidently Bacon kept to the French idea of the essay, a tentative and incomplete production which was...

...in the writer and leisure in the reader, . . . which is the cause that hath made me choose to write certain brief notes, set down rather significantly...Essays. The word is late, but the thing is ancient." A less distinguished writer remarks that the essay " is not a formal siege, but a series of assaults,...

...are addressed to Lucilius, are actually essays rather than letters. This was noted first by Bacon: "The word is late, but the thing is ancient. For Seneca's Epistles to Lucilius, yf one marke them well, are but essaies, that is, dispersed Meditaoions, though conveyed in the forme...

...in the best sense, a citizen of the world. But Bacon's intention, so richly fulfilled, was "to write one mark them well, are but Essays, — that is, dispersed Meditations." What Bacon intended, that...

...has pointed out their interrelation: " Seneca's epistles to Lucilius," he tells us, " if one marks them well, are but essays, that is dispersed meditations though conveyed in the form of epistles." This kinship may be traced in the matchless letters of Madame de Sevigne, the less clever collection...

...notes, set down rather significantly than curiously, which I have called ESSAIES." He continues : " The word is late, but the thing is ancient. For Seneca's Epistles to Lucilius, if one mark them well, are but Essaies, — That is, dispersed Meditations, though conveyed in the form...

...dedication to Prince Henry (not printed because of the Prince's death) Bacon describes his essays as "certain brief notes, set down rather significantly than curiously, which I have called ESSAIES." He continues : " The word is late, but the thing is ancient. For Seneca's Epistles to Lucilius,...

...Montaigne, but with the correct idea that the essay as a prose form had classical roots. "The word [essay] is late, but the thing is ancient: for Seneca's Epistles to Lucilius . . . are Essaies, that is dispersed Meditacions," he writes in the foreword to the second edition...

...1612 and 1625), tells his readers of the historic link of letters to essays. Of essay, Bacon writes "The word is late, but the thing is ancient; for Seneca's...meditations, though conveyed in the form of epistles" (1612 edition, np). 4. Throughout the history of the Christian church, letters, such as the Epistles...

...affairs, nor in regard of my continual services; which is the cause that hath made me choose to write certain brief notes, set down rather significantly...but the thing is ancient, for Seneca's Epistles to Lscilius, if one mark them well, are but Essays, that is, dispersed meditations, though conveyed in...