January 14: The First Step Toward Independence (Vol. 43, pp. 60-65)

Historians consider "The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut," adopted on this day in 1639, as the first-ever written version of the modern constitution — that is, a document that puts limits on governmental power and codifies the democratic ideal.

The idea that "to maintain the peace and union" that there should be "an orderly and decent government, established according to God, to order and dispose of the affairs of the people," and that to accomplish this, people must come together "as one public state or commonwealth," is a modern idea, but a powerful one. These are the ideas that shaped the U.S. Constitution nearly 150 years later.

January 13: Rousseau Seeks Sanctuary in England (Vol. 34, pp. 215-228)

On this day in 1766, Jean Jacques Rousseau arrived in England after fleeing France. The French at the time weren't particularly interested in his theory that men were not created free and equal.

In this selection from his "Discourse on Inequality," he explains what liberty and life really mean and how inequality undermines these essential values of human life. He maintains that man in his natural state has little inequality, but once laws and property rights and everything else associated with government enters the equation, inequality usually follows.

This is an interesting choice, coming two days after Hamilton's defense of government in "The Federalist."

January 12: What is Good Taste? (Vol. 24, pp. 11-26)

Edmund Burke was born this day in 1729, and to mark the occasion, here is a reading from his essay, "On Taste."

Burke takes on one of the great imponderables. Taste is clearly a subjective thing. What one person sees as art is what another person might see as trash. Burke defines taste as "no more than that faculty or those faculties of the mind, which are affected with, or form a judgment of, the works of imagination and the elegant arts."

He believes taste belongs to the imagination. It is a function of what he calls "a greater degree of natural sensibility, or from a closer and longer attention to the object." He concludes that sensibility and judgment are central to having taste, and that education is how taste is developed.

January 11: Hamilton -- Father of Wall Street (Vol. 43, pp. 199-207)

Alexander Hamilton was born this day in 1757, so a reading from "The Federalist" is called for. Surprisingly, there are only two selections from this work in the Harvard Classics, and these are it. He deserves far more than eight pages.

"The vigor of Government is essential to the security of liberty," wrote Hamilton in 1787. In "The Federalist," a series of newspaper articles mostly written by Hamilton, with some pieces penned by James Madison and John Jay, sought to convince readers that the adoption of the framework for a new national government they had just drawn up, the Constitution of the United States, was essential for the survival of the young nation. They believed a strong central government was preferable to the disorganized confederation of 13 states then in existence, and thankfully, they won that argument.

While Hamilton organized the Treasury Department, it is "The Federalist" that stands as his greatest achievement.

January 10: Where Love Lies Waiting (Vol. 8, pp. 368-372)

A tale of Greek gods and royalty behaving badly as told by Euripides in "The Bacchae." Dionysus, son of Zeus, was competing with King Pantheus of Thebes for the affections of the Theban women. Dionysus had the upper hand by bewitching the women until the king interceded. Not my cup of tea.

January 9: A Treasure Hunt in Nombre de Dios (Vol. 33, pp. 135-145)

Today's selection is a celebration of Sir Francis Drake, the great English naval adventurer of the Elizabethian age. It is from "Sir Francis Drake Revived," a collection of his writings put together by Philip Nichols in 1626.

The subtitle of the volume, "Calling upon this dull or effeminate Age to follow his noble steps for gold and silver," makes clear what Nichols is up to — glorifying plunder and war.

In this case, the reading covers how Drake and 52 men raided of the Spanish treasure house in Nombre de Dios in 1572, and made off with tons of gold and silver. In the process, he avenged earlier defeats at the hands of the Spanish fleet. So celebrated was this victory that when Drake died on this day in 1596, he was buried at sea off the coast of Nombre de Dios.

January 8: Trying the Patience of Job (Vol. 44, pp. 71-87)

The question asked here is, "What does a pious man do when everything goes wrong and his faith is tested?"

In the context of this series, the answer is that Job is held up as an example of steadfast faith in God under the worst of circumstances.

It wouldn't have occurred to Dr. Eliot that this is just another Old Testament fable designed to reinforce superstitious nonsense.