471 



BACON. FRA.NCIS. 



BACOX, KUAN-CIS. 



471 



Lent double-reader ; appointment* which were generally conferred on 

 IMO of eminenoe in the profession, and Mldom on person* so young 

 ma Bacon in yean an \ practice, when he firat received the honour. 

 Hi* doable reading on the Statute of Uaei hai been ro-pnbliahed 

 several lime*, first in 1642; and in 1S04 it was edited by William 

 Henry Howe, ai a work of high authority on the difficult subject 

 which it investigate*. 



Although connected with the most powerful family of Elizabeth's 

 reign the nephew of Lord Burleigh, and the cousin of Sir Robert Cecil 

 Bacon'* advancement corresponded neither to the natural influence 

 of hi talent* nor the apparently favourable position in which he was 

 placed by his connections. The Cecil* represented him to the queen 

 aa a speculative man ; a dangerous individual therefore in the realities 

 of business. All that they ever procured for him was the reversion 

 of the office of Registrar of the Star Chamber, an appointment the 

 alary of which, 16001. per annum, he did not receive till after twenty 

 yean had elapsed. The exertions of Essex in behalf of Bacon were 

 more hearty bat less efficient The office of solicitor-general becoming 

 vacant, Fas ex endeavoured to procure the place for his friend, and 

 when baffled by the superior influence of the Cecils, he generously 

 made him a present of Twickenham Park, worth about 1800/., and so 

 beautiful a spot, that Bacon called it ' a Garden of Paradise.' 



The friendship of Bacon for this nobleman was not one of mere 

 interest : and Enex made him this liberal present because he knew 

 that Bacon'a friendship for him had been a bar to his promotion. But 

 a coldness came over their friendship owing to difference of policy 

 and opinion. Bacon in vain intreated Essex to desist from the pro- 

 ceeding* which caused his ruin. They parted on bad terms in couee- 

 qu- nee. Bacon reckoned the last act of Essex no better than madness. 

 When ruin closed round upon him, Bacon did not dert him. linking 

 and encountering the displeasure of the queen on behalf of a friend, 

 of whose conduct be did not approve, Bacon did everything that 

 ingenious remonstrance and affectionate intreaty could do with her 

 majesty in behalf of the ill-advised earl. Although officially called 

 to appear as one of her majesty's counsel against his former friend, 

 the opportunity which his position gave him of mitigating the severity 

 of accusation, and of more effectually securing the interests of his 

 friend at court, were not neglected by him, and the mildness of his 

 manner of conducting the case, his choice of a part the least pro- 

 minent possible, and the disinterestedness and dexterity with which 

 be urged the queen for the pardon and restoration of Essex, appear 

 to show that he tried at least to serve his friend in difficult circum- 

 stance*. When commanded by the queen and her counsel to draw up 

 a declaration of the treasons of Robert Earl of Essex,- it was found 

 necessary to alter and embitter it considerably, her majesty remarking 

 on fint reading it, " I see old love is not easily forgotten." By the 

 geneil public Bacon's conduct was much censured, and he thought 

 it incumbent on himself to address a letter, after the earl's execution, 

 to one of hi* most devoted friends in vindication of the part which 

 be had acted. But the vindication it must be owned is not grounded 

 on any very noble motives. 



In 152 Bacon was returned to parliament for the county of Middle- 

 sex, and he distinguished himself in the debates by taking the popular 

 side. Hie fint political production, published in 1594, was occasioned 

 by a libel, entitled ' A Declaration of the Causes of the Great Troubles.' 

 Although charged with flattery to the queen and the ministry, the 



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is more a vindication of England than of its government. 

 6*7, bis moat popular work, 'Essays or Counsels, Civil and 

 Moral,' waa published ; but this first edition contains only ten essays, 

 and these in subsequent editions were enlarged to nearly double their 

 original dimension*. About the same time appeared his ' Maxims of 

 JAW.' His circumstances at this time were very bad : he was dis- 

 appointed in his attempt* at forming a lucrative matrimonial connec- 

 tion, and wai twice arrested for debt. Two yean afterwards his 

 ' History of the Alienation Office ' was written : the manuscript in in 

 the Inner Tempi. Library. His < In Felioem Memoriam Elizabeth* 

 Ant-lia Regime' was also written about this period, but was not 

 published until after hi* death. ThU work, entitled in English 

 Felicities of Queen Eliatbeth,' is a noble eulogium on tho character 

 of an UlustrioiM prince**, covering all the part* of her history with 

 the eloquent praise of one whoee admiration flowed fully, in spite of 

 toe fact tUt she be/1 constantly obstructed an.l retarded his ambitious 

 view* and advancement. In his will he left directions for the publica- 

 tion of this work. 



Shortly aftrr the accession of James I. Bacon was knighted, being one 

 .f 437 who received this acoeoion of dimity. His eloquence and 

 information gave him great weight in the House of Common*. Having 

 bean appointed by the House to make a representation of the oppres- 

 *** of the roysl purveyor* committed in the name of the kiti . IP 

 executed hie delicate task with a degrea of address, which combine.! 

 prudence and boldness so well as to satisfy both the king and the 

 parliament The parliament gave him a vote of thank*, and the king 

 made him one of hi* counsel, an appointment with which be also 

 > * c *l*d a small pension ; and ha continued to rise in spite of the 

 opposition of Cecil, now Earl of Salisbury, and the powerful rivalry 

 of Sir Kdward Coke, the attorney-general. The Advancement of 

 g waa publiabed in 1606. Two yean after he was mads 

 and bis practice in Westminster Hall now rapidly 



extended. About this time he married Alice, daughter of Benedict 

 Barnhnm, Esq., a wealthy alderman of London. His popularity wa* 

 much enhanced by the tact which he displayed in stating tho griev- 

 ances of the nation to the king, an undertaking intrusted to him by 

 the Commons ; and his clear address on the subject of exchanging the 

 ancient tenures of the crown for a competent revenue, advanced hi* 

 reputation still higher. Meantime he steadily kept in view the great 

 design of hi* life the development of his improved plan for studying 

 the sciences. He published the ground-work of hi* ' Novum Orgnuum 

 Scientiarum,' hi* ' Cogitata et Visa,' and sent copies of it to hi* 

 learned friends for examination and criticism. The ' Filum Laby- 

 rinthi ' was the original draught of his ' Cogitata et Yin.' He exercised 

 a wise caution in the gradual unfolding of his views on philosophy, 

 and even took paiiis to gain a literary and philosophical reputation 

 by writing on less perilous subject*, with the intention, as he frequently 

 stated, of securing nn amount of consideration and respect likely to 

 protect and bulwark his peculiar and original opinions from the 

 attacks to which they would necessarily be exposed on their firat 

 publication. With this view he wrote and published, in 1610, 'The 

 Wisdom of the Ancient*.' This production alike by its subject and 

 the eloquent expression which it gave to the original thoughts of the 

 writer on a theme somewhat hackneyed, had the effect of preparing 

 persons of all varieties of opinion for receiving with respect any thing 

 that came from his pen. 



ID the year 161 1 Bacon was a joint judge of the Knight Marshals' 

 Court In 1613 he was appointed attorney-general, and elected a 

 member of the privy council. An objection was made that a seat in 

 the lower house of parliament was incompatible with the duties of 

 tho attorney-general in the upper house. The objection was acknow- 

 ledged to be valid, but the Commons showed their regard for Bacon 

 by overruling the objection in his favour. At this period he must 

 have had a considerable income. Hi* professional practice was great ; 

 the attorney-generalship was worth 60002. per annum ; as Registrar 

 of the Star Chamber, he received 16001. ; he had a good estate in 

 Hertfordshire, and his father's seat of Gorhambury had passed to him 

 by the death of his brother ; and in addition to these he had the 

 large fortune brought him by his wife. While he was attorney-general 

 Bacon was engaged professionally in several important cases. He was 

 the king's agent against Peachum, a clergyman who was prosecuted 

 for treason contained in a sermon never preached ; and ho exerted 

 himself in getting the opinion of the judge* before the trial, notwith- 

 standing the unwillingness of Chief Justice Coke, and -the illegality 

 and injustice of such procedure. On the trial of the Earl and Countess 

 of Somerset for the murder of Sir Thomas Overbury in the Tower, 

 he distinguished himself by the perspicuity and eloquence with which 

 he conducted the prosecution. 



In 1617, Bacon was made keeper of the great seal, and on the 4th 

 of January 1618, he was appointed lord high chancellor of England, 

 and on July llth of the same year, be waa created Baron Verulam, 

 and took his seat among the peer*. Egerton, the old lord chancellor, 

 hod wished Bacon to be hi* successor, tho influence of Buckingham 

 was exerted on his behalf, and it appears that Bacon himself wrote 

 to the king soliciting the place on tho grounds of bis superior fitness 

 for the office, and the ready flexibility with which he would accom- 

 modate himself to the will and wishes of his sovereign. On putting 

 tho seals into his hand* his majesty gave him three advices, first, 

 " never to seal anything without mature deliberation ; secondly, to 

 give righteous judgments between parties with dispatch ; and thirdly, 

 not to extend the royal prerogative too far." Bacon entered on hi* 

 high office with great pomp, and delivered a long and eloquent speech 

 on the advices of the king, in presence of many of the nobility. 

 Anxious to secure the ' golden opinions ' of the profession, the new 

 lord chancellor invited the judges to a dinner, and requested that, 

 since it was not his intention to extend the power of tliu court of 

 chancery beyond it* ordinary limits, they would inform him if ever 

 they were dissatisfied with his proceedings, in order to a mutual and 

 satisfactory adjustment of matters. He introduced several reforms 

 into his court On the 19th of November 1619, he got the farming 

 of the Alienation Office. Next year he was made Viscount St Alban'a. 

 In the beginning of 1620 he kept his birth day with great state. Bon 

 Jouson, the poet, celebrated bis virtues, according to the fashion of 

 the day, in some lines, which arc part of a masque performed on tho 

 occasion. Bacon chose this favourable moment for the publication of 

 hi* ' Organon,' the object of hi* life-long solicitude. At tho height 

 and maturity of his genius, when possessing all the highest honours 

 which talent and learning could give him in his native land, we find 

 this 'servant of posterity' committing to it* slow but infallible tri- 

 bunal a work which, in reference to science, has been almost universally 

 pronounced the judgment of reason and experience in this rare 

 intanco confirming tho boastings of youth ' the greatest birth of 

 time.' This work was the gradual formation of a creating xjiirit It 

 was wrought up and polished with the sedulous industry of an artist 

 who labours for posterity. Besides the ' Partus Temporis Maximus,' 

 the ' Cogitata et Visa,' and the ' Filum Labyrinth!,' works which were 

 outlines and model-figures prepared at distant and different stages of 

 this long-studied production, Bacon copied hi* work twelve time*, 

 reviling, correcting, and altering it year by year before it was reduced 

 to the form in which it wai committed to the press. 



