The Essays

by Francis Bacon, John Pitcher (Introduction)

Overview

One of the major political figures of his time, Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626) served in the court of Elizabeth I and ultimately became Lord Chancellor under James I in 1617. A scholar, wit, lawyer and statesman, he wrote widely on politics, philosophy and science - declaring early in his career that 'I have taken all knowledge as my province'. In this, his most famous work, he considers a diverse range of subjects, such as death and marriage, ambition and atheism, in prose that is vibrant and rich in Renaissance learning. Bacon believed that rhetoric - the force of eloquence and persuasion - could lead the mind to the pure light of reason, and his own rhetorical genius is nowhere better expressed than in these vivid essays.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780141907208
Publisher:	Penguin UK
Publication date:	08/29/1985
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	3 Months

About the Author

Francis Bacon, philosopher, essayist, lawyer and statesman, was born in London in 1561. He studied at Cambridge and was enrolled at Gray's Inn in 1576. In 1584 he entered Parliament, and made the acquaintance of the Earl of Essex, who endeavoured to advance him in his career. Nevertheless, having been appointed to investigate the causes of Essex's revolt in 1601, Bacon was largely responsible for the earl's conviction. Bacon was appointed Solicitor-General in 1607 and eventually became Lord Chancellor in 1618. In 1621 he was charged with bribery, fined and imprisoned in the Tower. Following his release, he retired to his family home and spent his remaining years in philosophical and literary work. His ambition was to create a new system of philosophy to relace that of Aristotle, and he has been justly acclaimed as an inspiration to later scientists, rationalits and materialists. He died in 1626.


John Pitcher is a Fellow of St John's College, Oxford. He has edited Cymbeline for the Penguin Shakespeare and The Winter's Tale for the third series of the Arden Shakespeare.

Read an Excerpt

Excerpt from book:
and expectations. Death hath this also, that it openeth the gate to good fame, and extinguisheth envy : " Extinctus amabitur idem." l III.—OF UNITY IN RELIGION. Religion being the chief band of human society, it is a happy thing when itself is well contained within the true band of unity. The quarrels and divisions about religion were evils unknown to the heathen. The reason was, because the religion of the heathen consisted rather in rites and ceremonies, than in any constant belief; for you may imagine what kind of faith theirs was, when the chief doctors and fathers of their church were the poets. But the true God hath this attribute, that he is a jealous God; and therefore his worship and religion will endure no mixture nor partner. We shall therefore speak a few words concerning the unity of the church; what are the fruits thereof; what the bounds ; and what the means. The fruits of unity, (next unto the well-pleasing of God, which is all in all.) are two; the one to- wards those that are without the church, the other itowards those that are within. For the former, it is certain that heresies and schisms are, of all others, :the greatest scandals, yea, more than corruption of had revealed, " that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ." When he beheld the infant Jesns in the temple, he took the child in his arms and burst forth into a song of thanksgiving, commencing, " Lord, now lettest tliou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." — S/.. Luke ii. 29. 1 " When dead, the same person shall be beloved." — Ear. Ep. ii. 1, 14. manners ; for as in the natural bodya wound or solution of continuity is worse than a corrupt humor, so in the spiritual; so that nothing doth so much keep men out...

Table of Contents

Principal Dates in Bacon's Life
Introduction
A Note on the Text and Annotation
Further Reading
THE ESSAYSAPPENDICESThe Essays: Fragments, Versions and Parallels
1. Writing the Essays
2. Counsels for the Prince
3. The Wisdom of the Ancients
4. Idols of the Mind
5. A Poetical Essay