The advice which Bacon proffered to Villiers, upon his elevation to the peerage, is couched in noble terms, and wants nothing but the indefinable charm of supposed sincerity to perfect it:— “And after that the King shall have watered your new dignities with his bounty of the lands which he intends you, and that some other things concerning your means, which are now likewise in intention, shall be settled upon you, I do not see but you may think your private fortunes established; and, therefore, it is now time that you should refer your actions chiefly to the good of your sovereign and your country. It is the life of an ox or a beast, always to eat and never to exercise; but men are born, especially Christian men, not to cram in their fortunes, but to exercise their virtues; and yet the others have been the unworthy, and sometimes the humour of great persons in our time; neither will your further fortune be the farther off; for assure yourself that fortune is of a woman’s nature, that will sooner follow you by slighting than by too much moving.”[124] Footnote 124: Bacon’s Letters, vol. ii., p. 85. He recommends the young peer, in this “dedication of himself to the public, to countenance, encourage, and advance able and virtuous men, in all degrees, kinds, and professions.” And in places of moment, “rather,” he says, “make able and honest men yours, than advance those that are otherwise because they are yours.” “The time is,” he adds, in conclusion, “that you think goodness the best part of greatness: and that you remember whence your rising comes, and make return accordingly, God ever keep you.” Some time afterwards, another characteristic epistle from the Queen denoted the secret terms upon which Anne of Denmark stood with the young favourite:— “MY KIND DOG, “I have received your letter, which is verie welcom to me; you doe verie well in lugging the sowes (the King’s) ears, and I thank you for it, and whould have you do so still, upon condition that you continue a watchful dog to him, and be alwayes true to him. So wishing you all happines. “ANNA R.”[125] Footnote 125: Nichols, vol. iii., p. 187. It is not a matter of surprise that, thus caressed by both the King and Queen, marks of favour should have followed in continual succession. According to Lord Clarendon, the rapid rise of Villiers might be imputed to a certain innate “wisdom and virtue that was in him, with which he surprised, and even fascinated, all the faculties of his incomparable master.” And this was no matter of surprise, if we may believe in the truth of the following remarks:—“That Villiers was no sooner admitted to stand there in his own right, but the eyes of all such as look’d out of judgement, or gazed out of curiosity, were quickly directed towards him; as a man, in the delicacy and beauty of his colour, decency and grace of his motion, the most rarely accomplished they had ever beheld.”