home and abroad, in the council and the field, of an English statesman. It may have been the sumptuousness, the brilliancy, and the bright luxurious youth of Villiers that charmed the fancy and touched the heart of Bacon, and it is to the credit of the favourite that he could recognise the intellectual greatness of his counsellor. Partly through his influence with the king, and partly through Bacon's own great claims, the latter at length attained the great prize of a lawyer's ambition-the Seals-and on the 7th of March 1617 was appointed Lord-Keeper of England. His life-long adversary, Sir Edward Coke, had previously fallen from his pride of place, and the author of the "Novum Organum " now stood in the very front rank of his profession, the glory of the law and literature of England.

His accession to this high dignity was a subject of general congratulation; and when, on the 7th of May, the first day of Easter Term, he took his seat on the Chancery bench, he was attended by a splendid retinue of English notables. The rules he laid down for his guidance, in his inaugural oration, were excellent: "Concerning speedy justice," he said, "I am resolved that my decree shall come speedily upon the hearing. Fresh justice is the sweetest. Justice ought not to be delayed. There ought to be no labouring in causes but that of the counsel at the bar. And because justice is a sacred thing, and the end for which I am called to this place, and therefore is my way to heaven (and if it be shorter it is none the worse), I shall, by the grace of God, as far as God will give me strength, add the afternoon to the forenoon, and some fortnight of the vacation to the terms, for clearing the causes of the court. Only, the depth of

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the three long vacations I would reserve for studies of arts and sciences, to which in my nature I am most inclined."

CHAPTER VI.-BACON AS LORD CHANCELLOR.

His assiduity on the Bench-Raised to the Peerage-Presage of Evil-The Novum Organum-Bacon's Prosperity-Ben Jonson's Poetical EulogiumIntellectual Symposia.

THE duties of his high office as Lord-Keeper, Sir Francis Bacon addressed himself to discharge with the most untiring assiduity, and so rapidly, yet so effectively did he clear away the Augean accumulations of his predecessors, that in Easter and Trinity terms he settled no less than 3658 suits. "He sat," says Lord Campbell, "forenoon and afternoon, coming punctually into court, and staying a little beyond his time to finish a matter, which if postponed might have taken another day; most patiently listening to everything that could assist him in arriving at a right conclusion, but giving a broad hint to counsel by a question, a shrug, or a look, when they were wandering from the subject; not baulking the hopes of the suitors by breaking up to attend a cabinet or the House of Lords; not encouraging lengthiness at the bar to save the trouble of thought; not postponing judgment till the argument was forgotten; not seeking to allay the discontent of the bar by 'nods, becks, and wreathed smiles.'"†

On the 4th of January 1618, the Lord-Keeper became Lord-Chancellor, and, a few months later, was raised to

* "Domestic Papers tempore James I.," xcii. 18. Montagu, "Life and Works of Bacon."

+ Lord Campbell, "Lives of the Lord-Chancellors."

the peerage by the title of Baron Verulam. These honours so worthily won were worn with dignity; and despite the weakness of his physical frame, induced by incessant application and unremitting labour, there seemed every prospect for Bacon of a long and prosperous career.

But

it is in the hour of our brightest success that evil-handed Fortune prepares the "poisoned chalice" for our lips. The summer sky, as the Latin poet tells us, nurses the bolt and lightning of a wrathful Jove. At the moment of his apparent triumph, and when he stood the foremost man in England in the presence of his sovereign, Francis Bacon, Baron Verulam, and, by a later creation, Viscount St. Albans', Lord High Chancellor of England, was trembling on the verge of an abyss of ruin and disgrace.

Sir Edward Coke, his ancient and determined enemy had married his daughter and heiress to Sir John Villiers, brother of George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, the all-powerful favourite of James I. Bacon did what he could to prevent an alliance which boded him no good; but while his opposition was fruitless, he contrived to arouse the indignation of both King and courtier, and to prepare the way for his imminent downfall. By dint of repeated vindications and eloquent apologies, he apparently made his peace for a while, but not the less had he unwittingly advanced himself several degrees nearer his final shame and misfortune. It is pleasant, however, to record that, at this juncture (October 1620), the world was enriched by his "Novum Organum," the great work which had employed his meditations for thirty years, and which was destined to establish a new and comprehensive system of Inductive Philosophy. Its author was more fortunate than poets and philosophers

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usually find themselves. His genius was permitted at once to enjoy the fruition of its labours. Its reputation grew by no slow degrees, was watered by no bitter tears of sorrow and disappointment; for the world spontaneously hailed, and with lavish applause, the rich and wondrous gift-the "noblest birth of time"-laid before it by Bacon's luminous intellect.

We may draw from Lord Campbell's pages a picture of the philosopher's life at this eventful period, which will offer a pitiful contrast to the melancholy narrative we shall have so soon to relate :

"His worldly prosperity was now at its height, and he seemed in the full enjoyment of almost everything that man can desire. He was courted and flattered by all classes of the community. The multitude, dazzled by the splendour of his reputation as a statesman, an orator, a judge, a fine writer, a philosopher, for a time were blind to the faults in his character, and overlooked the evil arts by which he had risen.* Bystanders, who were not interested in the cases before him (a large class compared to the suffering suitors), were struck with the eloquence and apparent equity of his decisions; and the murmurs of those he had wronged were drowned by the plaudits of his admirers. He was on the best terms both with the King and the favourite; and it was generally expected that, like his father, he would keep his office while he lived. Foreigners, visiting this country, were more eager to see him as the author of the 'Novum Organum' than as Lord-Chancellor.

“He had a villa at Kew, to which he could retire for a day in seasons of business; and his vacations he spent

* The reader must here make allowance for Lord Campbell's prejudices.

at Gorhambury, 'in studies, arts, and sciences, to which, in his own nature, he was most inclined,' and in gardening, the purest of human pleasures.' Here, at a cost of £10,000, he erected a private retreat, furnished with every intellectual luxury, to which he repaired when he wished to avoid all visitors, except a few choice spirits, whom he occasionally selected as the companions of his retirement and his lucubrations.”

Ben Jonson has left a picturesque description of a grand banquet given by Bacon at York House, on entering his sixtieth year :

"Hail, happy Genius of this ancient pile!

How comes it all things so about thee smile?
The fire, the wine, the men! And in the midst
Thou stand'st, as if some mystery thou didst!
Pardon, I read it in thy face, the day

For whose returns, and many, all these pray;
And so do I. This is the sixtieth year
Since Bacon, and thy lord, was born, and here;
Son to the grave wise Keeper of the Seal-

Fame and foundation of the English weal.

What then his father was, that since is he,

Now with a little more to the degree;

England's high Chancellor: the destined heir,

In his soft cradle, to his father's chair:

Whose even thread the Fates spin round and full,
Out of their choicest and their whitest wool."

CHAPTER VII.-THE DOWNFALL.

Bacon's Reforms-Their effect on the Court-His Enemies-The Fee-System in the Court of Chancery-The Storm bursts-Bacon's Letter to the PeersResigns the Seals-His "Confession and Submission"-Sentence passed upon him-Retires to Gorhambury-A Picture.

On the 30th of January 1621, a Parliament, summoned by Bacon's advice, met at Westminster. Both at home and abroad, the aspect of affairs was so full of danger,