A collection of eleven short nonfiction works in the public domain. The items included in this collection were independently selected by the readers, and the topics encompass history, conservation, philosophy, politics, religion and cooking. Included in this collection are Thomas Jefferson's first Inaugural Address, "Secession" by Alexander H. Stephens, "Of Truth" and the preface to "The New Organon, or True Directions Concerning the Interpretation of Nature" by Francis Bacon, John Donne's last sermon delivered in March 1631, "On Old Age" by Cicero, a chapter from "The Fight for Conservation" by Gifford Pinchot, The Sacredness of Work" by Thomas Carlyle and an essay "On the Unjust Causes of War" by Hugo Grotius. On the lighter side, try selections from "Cocoa and Chocolate Recipes" by Miss Parloa and a 1912 article from Scientific American on the amazing escapes of Harry Houdini.
Sir Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban KC, son of Nicholas Bacon by his second wife Anne (Cooke) Bacon, was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, lawyer, jurist, and author. He served both as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Although his political career ended in disgrace, he remained extremely influential through his works, especially as philosophical advocate and practitioner of the scientific revolution. Bacon was knighted in 1603, created Baron Verulam in 1618, and Viscount St Alban in 1621.
There are some scholars who believe that Bacon's vision for a Utopian New World in North America was laid out in his novel The New Atlantis, which depicts a mythical island, Bensalem, in the Pacific Ocean west of Peru. He envisioned a land where there would be greater rights for women, the abolishing of slavery, elimination of debtors' prisons, separation of church and state, and freedom of religious and political expression. Francis Bacon played a leading role in creating the British colonies, especially in Virginia, the Carolinas, and Newfoundland.
Thomas Jefferson considered Francis Bacon to be one of the three greatest men who ever lived, "Bacon, Locke and Newton" were "the three greatest men that have ever lived, without any exception." Francis Bacon's influence can also be seen on a variety of religious and spiritual authors, and on groups that have utilized his writings in their own belief systems.
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