NOTE C. 



Elizabeth survived Sir Thomas Hobby, and married John, Lord Russel. Theie 

 is a portrait of her at Mr. Vansittart s, Bisham Abbey, enamelled by Bone. 



Sir Anthony Cooke died June 11, 1576, and is buried in the chapel at Rom- 

 ford. Birch s Elizabeth, 11. 



Portrait of Lady Cooke, wife of Sir Anthony, by Holbein, at Woburn, ena 

 melled by Bone. 



C. Life, p. i. 



Sir Nicholas Bacon was a man full of wit and wisdom : was a gentleman 

 and a man of law and of great knowledge therein. He had the deepest reach 

 into affairs of any man that was at the council table : the knottiest head to 

 pierce into difficulties : the most comprehensive judgment to surround the 

 merits of a cause : the strongest memory to recollect all circumstances of a 

 business at one view : the greatest patience to debate and consider : and the 

 clearest reason to urge anything that came in his way in the court of chancery. 

 His favour was eminent with his mistress, and his alliance strong with her 

 statesmen. He was lord keeper of the great seal during the time of Elizabeth. 

 He was, in a word, a father of his country and of Sir Francis Bacon. Lloyd. 



He was a moderate man : &quot; Mediocria jirma&quot; was his principle and practice. 

 He is described by Camden as &quot; Vir praepinquis, ingenio aceirimo, singular! 

 prudentia, summa eloquentia, tenaci memoria, et sacris conciliis alterium colu- 

 men.&quot; 



Sir Nicholas Bacon, a most eloquent man, of as sound learning and wisdom 

 as England had in many ages, with the old Lord William Burghley, lord trea 

 surer, have above others been admired and commended in their public speeches 

 in parliament. Peacham, Cent. 44. 



Sir Nicholas Bacon, lord keeper, ob. 1579, February 20 : in him was united 

 for the first time the office of lord chancellor and that of lord keeper, but in 

 1564, being suspected of having favoured the succession of the house of Gray, 

 he fell into disgrace and was forbad to appear at court, or to interfere in any 

 public affairs except those of chancery, where he continued to preside, with an 

 unblemished reputation, till his death. Lodge, 1. 306. 



Sir Nicholas Bacon, keeper in the reign of Elizabeth, died lamented by her 

 and the nation, 20th February, 1578-9. He was interred in the cathedral of 

 St. Paul s, where a monument was erected to him, which was destroyed by the 

 fire of London, 1666. 



Sir Nicholas had much of that penetrating genius, solidity of judgment, per 

 suasive eloquence, and comprehensive knowledge of law and equity, which 

 afterwards shone forth with so great a lustre in his son, who was as much infe 

 rior to his father in point of prudence and integrity, as his father was to him in 

 literary accomplishments. He was the first lord keeper that ranked as lord 

 chancellor. Promoted 1558-9 : ob. 20th February, 1578-9. 



It is interesting to see the resemblance between the minds of Sir Nicholas 

 and of his son. Sir Nicholas was an eminent statesman, with the refinement of 

 a courtier : a learned lawyer, eloquent, and devoted to science, with a passion 

 for building : qualities by which his son was distinguished through life. 



Queen Elizabeth told him his house was too little for him, &quot; Not so, madam,&quot; 

 returned he, &quot; but your majesty has made me too great for my house.&quot; When 

 Elizabeth asked Francis in his childhood how old he was, he answered that he 

 was two years younger than her majesty s happy reign. 



In that court, and in the star-chamber, he made use, on proper occasions, of 

 set speeches, in which he was happier than most men, pleasing the people by 

 their sound, and charming the wisest men of that age with their sense, whence 

 he attained the reputation of uniting two opposite characters, viz. of a witty and 

 a weighty speaker.* Ben Jonson says nearly the same of Lord Bacon. There 

 happened in my time one noble speaker, who was full of gravity in his speak 

 ing. His language (where he could spare or pass by a jest) was nobly cen 

 sorious. No man ever spake more neatly, more pressly, more weightily, or 



* Peacham s Compleat Gentleman, p. 43. 





