21/27 It gains by being in Latin; as Mr.Spedding says, "it must certainly be reckoned among the most perfect of Bacon's productions." The personal form with each paragraph begins and ends. "_Franciscus Bacon sic cogitavit_ ... It has the same kind of personal interest, only more solemn and commanding, which there is in Descartes's _Discours de la Methode_. In this form Bacon meant at first to publish. He sent it to his usual critics, Sir Thomas Bodley, Toby Matthews, and Bishop Andrewes. |