History of English Literature from "Beowulf" to SwinburneLang, Andrew
History
History of English Literature from "Beowulf" to Swinburne
Lang, Andrew
English literature -- History and criticism
A style quite unlike that of Hooker is Bacon's. Francis Bacon, later
Lord Verulam and Viscount St. Albans, was born in 1561, a younger son
of Sir Nicholas Bacon (long time Keeper of the Seals under Elizabeth),
and of his wife Elizabeth Cooke, daughter of Sir Anthony Cooke, and
sister of the wife of the famous Cecil, Lord Burleigh. Bacon did not
profit much by the high place of his uncle William, and his cousin
Robert Cecil. They retarded from jealousy the worldly advancement, to
secure which, and to aid the progress of Science, were Bacon's leading
desires. After leaving Trinity College, Cambridge, and studying law at
Gray's Inn, Bacon followed to Paris Sir Amyas Paulet, later the jailer
of Queen Mary Stuart at Fotheringay. He was called to the Bar in 1582,
and in 1584 entered Parliament, on the Court side. Ben Jonson has left
lofty praise of his eloquent sagacity in debate. His memoirs of advice
to Elizabeth were more admired than followed in practice. He was in
favour of moderation towards both Catholics and Puritans. He attached
himself to the fortunes of the Queen's brilliant wayward favourite,
Essex, but his wisdom was not what Essex was fitted by nature to
follow: he swayed the woman in Elizabeth by his beauty and daring
grace: his military ambitions were distasteful to the pacific and
parsimonious Queen. The mad enterprise of Essex, on Scottish models,
to seize the Royal person, was no true English political move; it led
to his trial, and Bacon was the leading speaker in his benefactor's
prosecution. "It is the wisdom of rats," says Bacon, "that will leave
a house some time before it fall" ("Essays," "Of Wisdom for a Man's
Self").
He has never been forgiven for an action which could scarcely appear
other than judicious, and praiseworthy, and even necessary, to himself.
Like Cecil he made advances to James VI of Scotland, when it was clear
that Elizabeth could not, as James feared, "last as long as sun and
moon". On James, Bacon bestowed all his wisdom, and spoke for the
project of Union between England and Scotland, a project not realized
till after the lapse of a century.
Partly through the influence of King James's favourite, Buckingham,
Bacon received promotion; he became Attorney-General; in 1617, Keeper
of the Seals, like his father; in 1618, Chancellor, and Baron Verulam;
in 1621 Viscount St. Albans. In the same year he was accused of taking
gifts from suitors (then a not uncommon practice), pled guilty, with
qualifications, and was disgraced. His last years were spent in
literary pursuits at his place, Gorhambury, near St. Albans; he caught
cold in an experiment in freezing poultry and died in March, 1626.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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