Mr. F. G. Selby, Professor of Moral Philosophy in Deccan
College, Poona, has followed up his edition of Bacon's "Advance- ment of Learning" with a reissue (Macmillan and Co.), of the Essays, based on the text of 1625. It is intended mainly for Indian students, and, indeed, Professor Selby makes the positively alarming statement that "there is probably nothing in the whole range of literature which would be more appreciated in an Indian darbar than the ' Essays ' of Bacon and the 'Prince' of Machiavelli." Is is for the sake of Indians, doubtless, that Mr. Selby has appended so many notes to his text,—some of them too, like those on "usury," "tithes," and other subjects, full of information. But there is so much in Bacon's Essays that is recondite, that such notes as Mr. Selby's are needed by all but exceptionally well-informed English readers.
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