The Harvard Classics, vol. 3: Essays by Bacon, Milton, and Browne

by Charles William Eliot; Francis Bacon; John Milton; Thomas Browne

Publisher:

P. F. Collier & Son

, 1909

Overview

Explore key essays by luminary sixteenth- and seventeenth-century thinkers Francis Bacon, John Milton and Thomas Browne. Find Bacon’s utopian novel, New Atlantis with visions of human discovery, generosity, and enlightenment. Get into Bacon’s thought on a number of public and private issues, with 59 essays on everything from truth and love to riches and fame. Read Milton’s prose with eloquent philosophical defense of free speech and free press, and discover his views concerning education—including ideas for its reform, its purpose, and an ideal curriculum. Discover Thomas Browne’s Religio Medici (The Religion of a Doctor), containing personal musings on Christian faith, hope, and charity—both a spiritual study and a psychological self-portrait.

The Harvard Classics

Journey through “Dr. Eliot’s Five Foot Shelf.” This massive collection, designed to provide the elements of a liberal education, was compiled by distinguished Harvard University president Charles Eliot in the early 1900s. Packed with the essential works of the Western classical tradition, the Harvard Classics collection remains one of the most comprehensive and well-researched anthologies of all time—a must-have library for students and lovers of the classics.

Key Features

• Key essays by sixteenth- and seventeenth-century thinkers
• Discussion of educational theory, free speech, Christian faith, and a variety of other issues
• Third volume of the prominent Harvard Classics collection

Contents

• Essays: Civil and Moral and The New Atlantis by Francis Bacon
• Areopagitica and Tractate of Education by John Milton
• Religio Medici by Thomas Browne

Top Highlights

“Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider. Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.” (Page 128)

“I had rather believe all the fables in the Legend,⁹⁰ and the Talmud,⁹¹ and the Alcoran,⁹² than that this universal frame is without a mind. And therefore God never wrought miracle to convince⁹³ atheism, because his ordinary works convince it. It is true, that a little philosophy inclineth man’s mind to atheism; but depth in philosophy bringeth men’s minds about to religion.” (Page 44)

“cannot call riches better than the baggage of virtue.” (Page 92)

“The desire of power in excess caused the angels to fall; the desire of knowledge in excess caused man to fall: but in charity there is no excess; neither can angel nor man come in danger by it.” (Page 34)

“Prosperity is the blessing of the Old Testament; adversity is the blessing of the New; which carrieth the greater benediction, and the clearer revelation of God’s favor.” (Page 17)

Product Details

• Title: The Harvard Classics, vol. 3: Essays by Bacon, Milton, and Browne
• Authors: Francis Bacon, John Milton, Thomas Browne
• Editor: Charles William Eliot
• Series: The Harvard Classics
• Publisher: P. F. Collier & Son
• Pages: 350

About Charles W. Eliot

Charles William Eliot (1834–1926) served as president of Harvard University for 40 years, helping to shape the struggling provincial college into a premier American research university. Eliot graduated from Harvard in 1853, and was appointed tutor in mathematics in 1854, before becoming assistant professor of mathematics and chemistry. Eliot left Harvard in 1863 and traveled in Europe for nearly two years, studying the educational systems of the Old World. He took an interest in every aspect of institutional operation, from curriculum and methods of instruction, to physical arrangements and custodial services. But his particular concern was with the relation between education and economic growth.

Returning home in 1865, Eliot accepted an appointment as professor of analytical chemistry at the newly-founded Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1869, he published a two-part article with his ideas about reforming American higher education in The Atlantic Monthly, catching the attention of Harvard businessmen trying to pull the university out of a crisis of short-term presidents and languishing curriculum. Eliot was quickly elected as the youngest president in Harvard’s history. Under his leadership, Harvard began to expand the range of courses offered, permitting undergraduates with unrestricted choice in selecting their courses of study. This enabled them to discover their “natural bents” and pursue them into specialized studies. The university soon became a center for advanced scientific and technological research. During his presidency, the university extended its facilities with laboratories, libraries, classrooms, and athletic facilities. Eliot was able to attract the support of major donors from among the nation’s growing plutocracy, making it the wealthiest private university in the world.