LIFE 01 J3ACOX. 



Obloquy Amidst these exertions, known at that time only to the 

 ci Bacon. Q ueen? ^ o Essex, and to his confidential friends, Bacon was 

 exposed to great obloquy, and, at the time when he was 

 thinking only how he could most and best serve his friend, 

 he was threatened by the populace with personal violence, 

 as one who had deserted and betrayed him. Unmoved by 

 such clamour, upon which he had calculated, () he went 

 right onward in his course. 



To Sir Robert Cecil, and to Lord Henry Howard, the 

 confidential friend of Essex, and who had willingly shared 

 his banishment from court, he indignantly complained of 

 these slanders and threats. To Lord Howard he says: (b) 

 &quot; My Lord, There be very few besides yourself, to whom 

 I would perform this respect. For I contemn mendacia 

 fama, as it walks among inferiors, though I neglect it 

 not, as it may have entrance into some ears. For your 

 lordship s love, rooted upon good opinion, I esteem it 

 highly, because I have tasted the fruits of it ; and we both 

 have tasted of the best waters, in my account, to knit 

 minds together. There is shaped a tale in London s forge, 

 that beateth apace at this time, that I should deliver 



(ff) His Apology to the Earl of Devonshire contains various observations 

 to this effect : I was not so unseen in the world, but I knew the condition 

 was subject to envy and peril, &c. but I resolved to endure it, in expecta 

 tion of better. Acording to the ordinary charities of court, it was given 

 out, that I was one of them that incensed the Queen against my lord of 

 Essex ; and I must give this testimony to my lord Cecil, that one time in 

 his house at the Savoy he dealt with me directly, and said to me, &quot; Cousin, 

 I hear it, but I believe it not, that you should do some ill office to my lord 

 of Essex ; for my part, I am merely passive, arid not active in this action ; 

 and I follow the Queen, and that heavily, and I lead her not ; my lord of 

 Essex is one that in nature I could consent with as well as with any one 

 living; the Queen indeed is my sovereign, and I am her creature, I may 

 not lose her, and the same course I would wish you to take.&quot; Whereupon 

 I satisfied him how far I was from any such mind. 



(b} Birth, 459. 



