March 7: Bacon Warns Judges (Vol. 3, 130-134)

Sir Francis Bacon was made Keeper of the Great Seal of England on this day in 1616. That makes today's essay, "On Judicature," particularly apt.

Bacon pointed out that judges must interpret law, not make it, and that a judge's principal duty is to "suppress force and fraud." This essay is the source for how the ethics of law came to be and where, I presume, the legal doctrine of original intent came from.

March 6: West Point's Outcast, America's First Great Poet (Vol. 42, pp. 1227-1230)

On this day in 1831, Edgar Allen Poe got booted out of West Point. To commemorate the occasion, the editors select "The Raven" for today's reading.

They call it a poem of "weirdness and despair" that is "particularly symbolic of his life." Maybe it's because this is not one of those poems about daffodils or Grecian urns or unrequited love that is the norm for 18th and 19th century poetry. "The Raven" is weirdness and despair in all its glory, topics that didn't get addressed in poetry until Mr. Poe came along.

March 5: Laughed at Locks (Vol. 31, pp. 214-224)

More boasting by Cellini from his autobiography. This time, he talks up his prowess at escaping from prisons.

March 4: Penn: Pioneer, Thinker and Builder (Vol. 1, pp. 321-330)

William Penn was granted a royal charter for Pennsylvania from King Charles on his day in 1681, so the editors selected a collection of reflections and maxims from the founder of Pennsylvania and staunch defender of Quakerism.

The editors call "Some Fruits of Solitude" a combination of "the acute common sense of Franklin" with "the spiritual elevation of Woolman." Their assessment is correct. His maxims are steeped in piety, but have a core of common sense.

March 3: For Poets and Fishermen (Vol. 15, pp. 373-382)

George Herbert, a preacher who dabbled in poetry on the side, died this day in 1633. And why should we care? Tough to say, but I think it is safe to say that Isaak Walton, the patron saint of fishermen, is justly better known writing about fishing than biographies of obscure poets.

Walton's "The Compleat Angler" should have been included in this collection ahead of this drivel.

March 2: What Sailors Do on Sunday (Vol. 23, pp. 112-119)

Richard Henry Dana's "Two Years Before The Mast" is supposed to be one of the greatest pieces of nautical literature ever written. Not being a connoisseur of this genre, I can't judge.

In today's selection, Dana tells of what sailors do when they get shore leave — drink and raise hell, of course. Sailors of the 19th century had few opportunities to get wild, but when they had them, they certainly took advantage.

March 1: Invented Richard de Coverly (Vol. 27, pp. 83-87)

The first issue of the Spectator came out this day in 1711, the first periodical devoted to essays and writing. Sir Richard Steele and Joseph Addison collaborated on the Spectator and its predecessor, the Tatler, but today's selection is such a trifling piece of writing that one wonders why it was even included in this collection.