The Winged Self
from The New Atlantis

by Francis Bacon

Lord God of heaven and earth,

Thou hast vouchsafed of Thy grace,

to those of our order,

to know Thy works of creation,

and secrets of them...

I do here acknowledge and testify before this people,

that the thing which we now see before our eyes is Thy finger,

and a true miracle,

And for as much as we learn in our books

that Thou workest miracles but to a divine and excellent end,

we most humbly
beseech Thee to prosper this great sign,

and to give us the
interpretation and use of it in mercy;

which Thou didst in some part secretly promise,

by sending it unto us.

- Francis Bacon