He dedicated them, under the title of _Essays_, to Henry, Prince of Wales, the eldest son of King James I., a prince of rare gifts, and worthy such a dedication, who unfortunately died in 1612.

They show him to be the greatest master of English prose in his day, and to have had a deep insight into human nature.
Bacon is said to have been the first person who applied the word _essay_ in English to such writings: it meant, as the French word shows, a little trial-sketch, a suggestion, a few loose thoughts--a brief of something to be filled in by the reader.

Now it means something far more--a long composition, dissertation, disquisition.

The subjects of the essays, which number sixty-eight, are such as are of universal interest--fame, studies, atheism, beauty, ambition, death, empire, sedition, honor, adversity, and suchlike.
The Essays have been ably edited and annotated by Archbishop Whately, and his work has been republished in America..