Page:The Works of Francis Bacon (1884) Volume 1.djvu/98

xc and they said, I was the same man still, only honesty was turned to honour.

For the Upper House, even within these days, before these troubles, they seemed as to take me into their arms, finding in me ingenuity, which they took to be the true, straight line of nobleness, without crooks or angles.

And for the briberies and gifts wherewith I am charged, when the book of hearts shall be opened, I hope I shall not be found to have the troubled fountain of a corrupt heart, in a depraved habit of taking rewards to pervert justice; howsoever I may be frail, and partake of the abuses of the times.

And therefore I am resolved, when I come to my answer, not to trick my innocency (as I writ to the lords) by cavillations or voidances, but to speak to them the language that my heart speaketh to me, in excusing, extenuating, or ingenuous confessing; praying God to give me the grace to see to the bottom of my faults, and that no hardness of heart do steal upon me, under show of more neatness of conscience, than is cause.

But not to trouble your majesty any longer, craving pardon for this long mourning letter, that which I thirst after, as the hart after the streams, is, that I may know by my matchless friend that presenteth to you this letter, your majesty's heart (which is an abyssus of goodness, as I am an abyssus of misery) towards me. I have been ever your man, and counted myself but a usufructuary of myself, the property being yours. And now making myself an oblation, to do with me as may best conduce to the honour of your justice, the honour of your mercy, and the use of your service, resting as clay in your majesty's gracious hands, , Canc. March 25, 1620.

To the preparation of his defence he now proceeded—a preparation which could scarcely to any advocate have been attended with difficulty, whether considering the general nature of the complaints, or the weight due to each particular charge.

There are circumstances attending these accusations, by which at this time the judgment may be warped, that did not exist two centuries since. We may be misled by transferring the opinions of the present to past times, and by supposing that the accusations were preferred by some or all of thesuitors whose names are mentioned, and on whose behalf the presents were offered after the termination of their causes; but it was then well known, that these suitors reluctantly attended, in obedience to the summons obtained in consequence of the petitions presented by the two discontented persons against whom the chancellor had decided, notwithstanding their supposition that his judgment was to be purchased.

It could not have escaped the notice of any advocate that the presents were made on behalf of the suitors, by men of character, counsellors, and members of parliament, Sir George Hastings, Sir Richard Young, Sir Henry Holmes, Mr. Jenkins, Mr. Thelwall, Mr. Toby Matthew, and Sir Thomas Perrott; and that they were made openly, with the greatest publicity, both from the nature of the presents themselves, and from the manner in which they were presented; so openly, that even Sir Edward Coke admitted the fact, that they were delivered in the presence of witnesses; and the chancellor, in answer to the 21st charge, that, "upon a dispute between three public companies of the apothecaries and grocers, he had received presents from each of the companies," instantly said, "Could I have taken these presents in the nature of a bribe, when I knew it could not be concealed, because it must needs be put to the account of the three several companies, each of whom was jealous of the other?" Who can suppose that, if secrecy had been the object, presents of articles constantly in sight would have been selected; gold buttons, tasters of gold, ambergrease, cabinets, and suits of hangings for furniture; they were made, as was notorious, according to the established custom, in this, and in all countries, a custom which, as the Chancellor l'Hôpital endeavoured to abolish in France, the Chancellor Bacon would most gladly have abolished in England, and demanded from the country a proper remuneration for the arduous labours of his high office.

No man felt more deeply the evils which then existed, of the interference by the crown and by statesmen to influence judges. How beautifully did he admonish Buckingham, regardless as he proved of all admonition, "By no means be you persuaded to interpose yourself, either by word or letter, in any cause depending, or like to be depending, in any court of justice, nor suffer any other great man to do it where you can hinder it; and by all means dissuade the king himself from it, upon the importunity of any for themselves or their friends. If it should prevail, it perverts justice; but if the judge be so just and of such courage, as he ought to be, as not to be inclined thereby, yet it always leaves a taint of suspicion behind it; judges must be Chaste as Caesar's wife, neither to be, nor to be suspected to be unjust: and, sir, the honour of the judges in their judicature is the king's honour, whose person they represent." Thus did he raise his voice in opposition to an inveterate practice. The first mode of correcting error, whether in individuals or in the community, is by proclaiming its existence ; the next is, when ripe for action, by acting.

That the presents influenced the judgment of the chancellor was never for a moment supposed by any man. Fourteen out of the twenty-two