Coke.” He was observed to make a better figure in adversity than in prosperity; and he was so good at making the best of a disgrace, that king James said, “Let them throw him which way they would, he always fell upon his legs.” He valued himself, and not without reason, upon this, that he obtained all his preferments without employing either prayers or pence, and that he became Speaker of the House of Commons, Solicitor-general, Attorney-general, Chief Justice of both Benches, High Steward of Cambridge, and a member of the Privy Council, without either begging or bribing. In this he was very different from many of his most eminent cotemporaries, and especially from his great and celebrated rival Bacon, who was remarkable for the meanness with which he used to solicit preferment. He was in his person well proportioned, and his features were regular. He was neat, but not nice, in his dress; and would say, that “the cleanness of a man’s clothes ought to put him in mind of keeping all clean within.” He was twice married, but his second marriage proved unhappy. He left behind him a numerous issue, as well as a large fortune; and may be ranked among the greatest men of his time. {177a} In the latter part of his life he appears to have been among the reputed _Jacobins_ of that day, [as is also said to have been the case, in the estimation of some _wise_ and _virtuous_ people, {177b} with his present descendant of Holkham, during the late memorable reign and rage of our furious alarmists.] While he lay upon his death-bed, his house was, by an order of council, searched for seditions and dangerous papers: and the searchers took away his commentary upon Magna Charta; his commentary upon Lyttleton, with the history of his Life before it, written with his own hand; the Pleas of the Crown; and the Jurisdiction of Courts; his 11th. and 12th. Reports, in MS; with 51 other MSS; together with his Last Will and Testament, which contained the provision he had been making for his younger grandchildren. These papers were kept from the family for several years, and the Will was never heard of more. {178}