BACON, Francis, lord high chancellor of England under King James I. was son of Sir Nicholas Bacon, lord keeper of the great seal in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, by Anne daughter of Sir Anthony Cook, eminent for her skill in the Latin and Greek tongues. He was born in 1560; and showed such marks of genius, that he was particularly taken notice of by Queen Elizabeth when very young. He was educated at Trinity college, Cambridge; and made such incredible progress in his studies, that, before he was 16, he had not only run through the whole circle of the liberal arts as they were then taught, but began to perceive those imperfections in the reigning philosophy, which he afterwards so effectually exposed, and thereby not only overturned that tyranny which prevented the progress of true knowledge, but laid the founda-
tion of that free and useful philosophy which has since opened a way to so many glorious discoveries. On his leaving the university, his father sent him to France; where, before he was 19 years of age, he wrote a general view of the state of Europe: but Sir Nicholas dying, he was obliged suddenly to return to England; when he applied himself to the study of the common law, at Gray's Inn. At this period the famous earl of Essex, who could distinguish merit, and who passionately loved it, entered into an intimate friendship with him; zealously attempted, though without success, to procure him the office of queen's solicitor; and, in order to comfort his friend under the disappointment, conferred on him a present of land to the value of 1800l. Bacon, notwithstanding the friendship of so great a person; notwithstanding the number and power of his own relations; and, above all, notwithstanding the early prepossession of her majesty in his favour; met with many obstacles to his preferment during her reign. In particular, his enemies represented him as a speculative man, whose head was filled with philosophical notions, and therefore more likely to perplex than forward public business. It was not without great difficulty that lord treasurer Burleigh obtained for him the reversion of register to the star-chamber, worth about 1600l. a-year, which place fell to him about 20 years after. Neither did he obtain any other preferment all this reign; though if obedience to a sovereign in what must be the most disagreeable of all offices, viz. the casting reflections on a deceased friend, entitled him, he might have claimed it. The people were so clamorous even against the queen herself on the death of Essex, that it was thought necessary to vindicate the conduct of the administration. This was assigned to Bacon, which brought on him universal censure, nay his very life was threatened. Upon the accession of King James, he was soon raised to considerable honours; and wrote in favour of the union of the two kingdoms of Scotland and England, which the king so passionately desired. In 1616, he was sworn of the privy-council. He then applied himself to the reducing and recomposing the laws of England. He distinguished himself, when attorney-general, by his endeavours to restrain the custom of duels, then very frequent. In 1617, he was appointed lord keeper of the great seal. In 1618, he was made lord chancellor of England, and created Lord Verulam. In the midst of these honours and applause, and multiplicity of business, he forgot not his philosophy, but in 1620 published his great work entitled Novum Organum.
We find by several letters of his, that he thought convening of parliaments was the best expedient for the king and people. In 1621, he was advanced to the dignity of Viscount St Albans, and appeared with the greatest splendour at the opening of the session of parliament. But he was soon after surprised with a melancholy reverse of fortune. For, about the 12th of March, a committee of the house of commons was appointed to inspect the abuses of the courts of justice. The first thing they fell upon was bribery and corruption, of which the lord chancellor was accused. For that very year complaints being made to the house of commons of his lordship's having received bribes, those complaints were sent up to the house of lords; and new ones being daily made of a like nature, things soon
Bacon. grew too high to be got over. The king found it was impossible to save both his chancellor, who was openly accused of corruption, and Buckingham his favourite, who was secretly and therefore more dangerously attacked as the encourager of whatever was deemed most illegal and oppressive: he therefore forced the former to abandon his defence, giving him positive advice to submit himself to his peers, and promising upon his princely word to screen him in the last determination, or, if that could not be, to reward him afterwards with an ample retribution of favour. The chancellor, though he foresaw his approaching ruin if he did not plead for himself, resolved to obey; and the house of peers, on the 3d of May 1621, gave judgment against him, "That he should be fined 40,000. and remain prisoner in the Tower during the king's pleasure; that he should for ever be incapable of any office, place, or employment, in the state or commonwealth; and that he should never sit in parliament, or come within the verge of the court." The fault which, next to his ingratitude to Essex, thus tarnished the glory of this illustrious man, is said to have principally proceeded from his indulgence to his servants, who made a corrupt use of it. One day, during his trial, passing through a room where several of his domestics were sitting, upon their rising up to salute him, he said, "Sit down, my masters; your rise hath been my fall." Stephens, p. 54. And we are told by Rushworth, in his historical collections, "That he treasured up nothing for himself or family, but was over-indulgent to his servants, and connived at their takings, and their ways betrayed him to that error; they were profuse and expensive, and had at their command whatever he was master of. The gifts taken were for the most part for interlocutory orders; his decrees were generally made with so much equity, that though gifts rendered him suspected for injustice, yet never any decree made by him was reversed as unjust." It was peculiar to this great man (say the authors of the Biogr. Brit.) to have nothing narrow and selfish in his composition: he gave away without concern whatever he possessed; and believing other men of the same mould, he received with as little consideration. He retired, after a short imprisonment, from the engagements of an active life, to which he had been called much against his genius, to the shade of a contemplative one, which he had always loved. The king remitted his fine, and he was summoned to parliament in the first year of King Charles I. It appears from the works composed during his retirement, that his thoughts were still free, vigorous, and noble. The last five years of his life he devoted wholly to his studies. In his recess he composed the greatest part of his English and Latin works. He expired on the 9th of April 1626; and was buried in St Michael's church at St Alban's, according to the direction of his last will, where a monument of white marble was erected to him by Sir Thomas Meautys, formerly his secretary, and afterward clerk of the privy council under two kings. A complete edition of this great man's works was published at London in the year 1740.—Addison has said of him, That he had the sound, distinct, comprehensive knowledge of Aristotle, with all the beautiful light graces and embellishments of Cicero. The honourable Mr Walpole calls him the Prophet of Arts which Newton was af-
terwards to reveal; and adds, that his genius and his works will be universally admired as long as science exists. "As long as ingratitude and adulation are despicable, so long shall we lament the depravity of this great man's heart. Alas! that he who could command immortal fame, should have stooped to the little ambition of power."