Going further back still, we find that Bacon, who had succeeded in
overthrowing Coke, was himself overthrown in 1621, three years after
the marriage of Coke's daughter to Sir John Villiers, and shortly
after Bacon himself had been created Viscount St. Albans. Bacon was
impeached on charges of official corruption, and his old enemy, Sir
Edward Coke, who was then a member of Parliament, was to have had the
pleasure of conducting the impeachment. Coke, however, was deprived of
that gratification by Bacon's plea of Guilty, and was obliged to
content himself with attending the Speaker to the bar of the House of
Lords when judgment was to be prayed, and with hearing the Chief
Justice, by order of the Lords, condemn Bacon to a fine of £40,000,
incapacity ever to hold any office again, exile from Court, and
imprisonment in the Tower during the King's pleasure.
It was generally supposed that the exultant Coke would now be offered
the Great Seal; but, to the astonishment of the world and to Coke's
unqualified chagrin, the King proclaimed Williams, "a shrewd Welsh
parson," as Lord Campbell calls him, Lord Keeper in the place of
Bacon. After this disappointment, Coke became even fiercer against the
Court than he had been before Bacon's disgrace. Bacon's fine was
remitted, "the King's pleasure" as to the length of his imprisonment
was only four days, he was allowed to return to Court, and he was
enabled to interest himself with the literary pursuits which he loved
better than law and almost as much as power; but he was harassed by
want of what, perhaps, he may have loved most of all, namely money,
and he died in 1626, five years after his fall and condemnation.
Although Buckingham was at the summit of his glory, everything did not
go well with him during the period at which he was scheming to rid his
brother of Lady Purbeck. In 1623 he went to Spain with Prince Charles
to arrange a marriage with the Infanta, a match which he failed to
bring about. In 1626 he was impeached, though unsuccessfully, by the
House of Commons. In 1627 he commanded an expedition to the Isle of
Rhé against the French, on behalf of the Huguenots, and completely
failed in the attempt. In 1628 a new Parliament threw the blame upon
him of all the troubles and drawbacks from which the country was then
suffering; and, in August, the same year, he was murdered by an
assassin less than twelve months after he had succeeded in his
proceedings against Lady Purbeck.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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