6 BACON. 



" Why, Mr. B ," I said, " the first was 



a man of most profound wisdom and learn- 

 ing one of the great luminaries of the 

 Elizabethan age a scholar, an orator, a 

 lawyer, a statesman, a philosopher; the 

 first, indeed, of his age and country, and 

 one to whom the nation and mankind in 

 general are much indebted ; but I am sorry," 

 I said, "to be obliged to add, that his fame 

 was sullied by one of the meanest of vices." 



"Indeed, Mr. C , you surprise me ; 



why, who could that be ? " 



" Francis Bacon, Baron Verulam, Viscount 

 St. Albans," I replied. 



" Oh, yes ! I have heard of him. I have 

 read a great deal about him ; he was, 

 indeed, a great man." 



" Yes, 7 ' I continued, for the dreariness of 

 the morning, and the lack of clients, induced 

 the conversation, or, in an old sea-phrase, 

 I had my jawing-tackle on board; "yes, 

 and it is stated by some* that he has been 



* It was about this time the hypothesis of Lord Bacon's 



