Francis Bacon (1561-1626), scientist, lawyer, and statesman, occupies a unique position in English letters. His most widely read work, the Essays, still ranks high among the masterpieces produced during one of the greatest periods of English prose. These richly condensed utterances on human life show, in the matter of conduct, something of the same stress on the pragmatic that Bacon brought to his scientific writing. Together, these great essays are a rich collection of shrewd observations about human passions and pursuits, old age, religion, death, friendship, and even the proper ordering of buildings and gardens.