CCClxxii LIFE OF BACON. 



May 3. On the 3rd of May the Lords adjudged, &quot; that, upon his 



^entence. own confession, they had found him guilty: and therefore 

 that he shall undergo fine and ransom of forty thousand 

 pounds ; be imprisoned in the Tower during the King s 

 pleasure ; be for ever incapable of any office, place, or em 

 ployment in the state or commonwealth ; and shall never 

 sit in parliament, nor come within the verge of the court.&quot; 



Thus fell from the height of worldly prosperity Francis 

 Lord Chancellor of Great Britain. 



His The caus of his having deserted his defence he never 



revealed. He patiently endured the agony of uncommuni- 

 cated grief, (a) He confidently relied upon the justice of 

 future ages. There are, however, passages in his writings 

 where his deep feeling of the injury appear. 



In his Advancement of Learning we are admonished that, 

 &quot; Words best disclose our minds when we are agitated, 



Vino tortus et ira ; 



for, as Proteus never changed shapes till he was straitened 

 and held fast with cords, so our nature appears most fully 

 in trials and vexations.&quot; b 



But because he that hath taken bribes is apt to give 

 bribes, I will go further, and present your majesty with 

 bribe; for if your majesty give me peace and leisure, and 

 God give me life, I will present you with a good History 

 of England, and a better Digest of your Laws. And so 

 concluding with my prayers, I rest 



Clay in your Majesty s hands, 



May 2, 1621. FR. ST. ALBAN. 



(a) See Essay on Friendship, vol. i. 



(6) The following is the passage : &quot; As for words, though they be, like 

 waters to physicians, full or flattery and uncertainty, yet they are not to be 

 despised, specially with the advantage of passion and affection. For so we 



