Bacon; Essex takes command of expedition against Tyrone;

Bacon's letter to Essex in striking contrast with his subsequent

conduct; the failure of the expedition; sudden return of Essex;

reception by the Queen at "Nonsuch;" his subsequent impris-

onment; trial before special commission; Essex forbidden the

court; Bacon held responsible for the Queen's disfavor towards

Essex; Bacon's letter to Essex, November, 1599: “I am more

yours than any man, more yours than any man's;" letter to

Essex; the Earl's reply; letters written by Bacon, and exchanged

by Anthony Bacon and the Earl; Essex surrounded by bad

advisers; Queen's refusal of patent: "An unruly beast must be

stinted of his provender; " the Essex fiasco; he and Southamp-

ton in the Tower; the trial; Bacon's prosecution of his patron;

the Earl's defence; Bacon vs. Bacon; the Earl's conviction,

sentence and execution; dissatisfaction of the people; Bacon

detailed to defend the government; Bacon a volunteer prosecutor

in a certain sense; was not of the sworn counsel; Bacon seeks

office; writes to Puckering, "I hope you will think I am no

unlikely piece of wood to shape you a true servant of;" adopts

Sir Robert Cecil for his patron; A. D. 1601, Anthony Bacon dies;

this year a new parliament; the last of Elizabeth's reign; Bacon

a law reformer; bill for regulation of weights and measures lost,

revived and passed in reign of William IV.; supports subsidy;

Raleigh's sarcasm; monopolies; Bacon defends the prerogative;

the Queen anticipates the action of the Commons; her death;

Bacon's skirmish line of letters to meet the new sovereign's

advance.

I

PART II.

FROM THE ACCESSION OF JAMES TO THE PUBLICATION OF

NOVUM ORGANUM, OCT. 12, 1620.

Elizabeth on the succession; correspondence of Anthony
Bacon, Essex, Cecil and others with the Court of Scotland; Bacon
trades on the capital of his dead brother and his dead patron;
James continues regular appointees of the Crown in office, which
leaves Bacon out; Southampton visited in the Tower; Bacon
writes to him, "I may safely be now that which I was truly

before; " Bacon continued as unsworn counsel; the King con-
fers knighthood on 300 gentlemen, who pay for it; Bacon one of
them; his letter to Sir Robert Cecil: "I have found an alder-
man's daughter, a handsome maiden to my liking;" Bacon not
employed in beginning of the new reign; writes on the "Better
Pacification and Edification of the Church of England;" his
apology for prosecuting Essex; trial of Raleigh for participation
in the Arabella Stuart fiasco; Coke's cruel and coarse conduct at
the trial; Bacon in James' first parliament; wins favor with King
and people; appointed King's counsel; salary and pension;
"Advancement of Learning" published; its reception; May 10,
1606, marries Alice Barnham; contemporary writer on the wed-
ding; promotion of Coke and appointment of Hobart; Bacon
again disappointed; finally succeeds; made Solicitor-General
June 25, 1607; activity in behalf of naturalization act; case of the
post-nati; leisure hours devoted to philosophy-" Cogita et visa ;”
Wisdom of the Ancients; parliament of A. D. 1609; Bacon and
the prerogative; impositions; new edition of Essays, 1612; writes
to the King for refusal of the Attorney-Generalship; Coke trans-
ferred from Common Pleas to King's Bench through Bacon's
influence; Hobart succeeds Coke and Bacon is made Attorney-
General; the Sutton will case; Robert Cecil, Earl of Salis
bury, dies, May 24, 1612; Bacon's abuse of his dead cousin;
Jamesacking in wise counsellors; Bacon's opportunity; contem-
poraneous fear that Bacon would become a "dangerous instru-
ment;" parliamentary opposition to his taking his seat; imposi-
tions; quarrel between King and Commons; dissolution, June,
1614; "benevolences;" Oliver St. John's protest; his prosecution,
submission and pardon; Peacham examined "before torture,
during torture, between tortures and after torture;" Bacon's
opinion; letter to the King touching Peacock's candidacy for the
rack; poisoning of Sir Thomas Overbery; Earl and Countess of
Somerset; Bacon's gentle conduct towards both; appearance of
Villiers on the stage; his rise; Bacon's intimacy with him; his
letter of advice to the favorite; Lord Chancellor Ellsmere's
illness; Bacon's correspondence with the King; the Lord Chan-
cellor disappoints Bacon by recovering; they weep together;
Bacon, in letter to the King, contrasts himself with his rivals, to
their disadvantage; Coke and the judges assailed; courage of

the former, cowardice of the latter; Bacon instrumental in

degrading his rival; Coke unfrocked; Villiers made Viscount;

Clarendon's character of the favorite; Bacon proposes to re-

compile the law; Sir Robert Peel, 1826; Bacon made Lord

Keeper, 1617; letter of thanks to the favorite; proposed marriage

between Prince Charles and the Infanta of Spain; Bacon's

letter to the King; some of its wise suggestions; King and Buck-

ingham go to Scotland, May, 1617; Bacon takes his seat in Court

of Chancery; great pomp; his speech; address to Justices Hat-

ton and Denham; Coke's happy plan for restoration; its success;

quarrel with Lady Hatton; she runs off with their daughter;

Bacon refuses a warrant to Coke, requested by the favorite's

mother, for recovery of his daughter; Bacon writes to Bucking-

ham, and argues against the proposed match; Coke pursues and

re-takes his daughter by force; Lady Hatton collects a force and

pursues her husband; her carriage breaks down; she hastens to

Bacon's lodgings; enlists her old lover in her behalf; Bacon's

change of base on hearing the King and favorite were against

him; he writes the King an explanatory letter; its disingenuous-

ness; the King and favorite's indignation; Bacon's penitence;

letters from James and Buckingham; Bacon's submission and

the favorite's forgiveness; Buckingham interferes in behalf of

suitors in chancery cases; Bacon's conduct in the premises;

Raleigh's expedition in search of a gold mine; the failure, return

and consequences; his character and death; character of his exe-

cution and all concerned in it; Bacon's legal services; his prose

cution of Yelverton; his Novum Organum; King's acceptance of

the dedication and copy; Coke's ungracious conduct. . . 63

PART III.

FROM THE PUBLICATION OF THE NOVUM ORGANUM, OCT.
12, 1620, TO BACON'S DEATH, APRIL 9, 1626.

Bacon celebrates his sixtieth birthday, as Lord Verulam and
Lord Chancellor; Ben Jonson's ode; the Elector Palatine par-
liament; monopolies, grievances; Mompesson, Mitchell, "Over-
reach" and "Greedy;" Edward Villiers diplomatized; Bacon

charged with corruption; his letter to Buckingham; is taken ill;

his letter to the House of Lords; wants time and counsel to pre-

pare defense; Williams, Dean of Winchester, adviser of King and

Buckingham; they leave Bacon to his fate; he writes to favorite

and King, no "depraved habit of taking rewards; " might "be

frail and partake of the abuses of the times;" the King's conduct

towards the Commons; Bacon returns to Gorhambury; anecdote

of Prince Charles; April 10, 1621, Bacon makes his will; notes

to be used in interview with James; the interview and result;

letter to the King for mercy; further correspondence with the

King; inconsistent demand for particulars of charge and proposed

confession; unsatisfactory confession to the House of Lords;

they decline to accept it; he makes a more definite one, which is

presented by Prince Charles; committee wait on him: "My

Lords, it is my act, my hand, my heart. I beseech your Lordships

be merciful to a broken reed;" convicted nemine dissentiente;

sentenced, the favorite alone voting in the negative; in the

Tower; letter to Buckingham; is released; compelled to leave

London; further mercy from the King; applies himself to his

studies and writings; his last experiment; his death, April 9,

1626; his burial; his estate and debts; publication of his works;

lives of Bacon; consideration of his moral character and of his

philosophy..

129