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vulgar hands, yet was first divulged by copies every where, that being, as it seemeth, the newest and finest form of libelling, and since committed to the press: : her majesty in her wisdom seeing manifestly these rumours thus nourished had got too great a head to be repressed without some hearing of the cause, and calling my lord to answer.'

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3 X. Life, p. lviii.

"And yet

The following is from the Lord's Charge in opening the cause. on the other side, being still informed touching my lord himself of his continuance of penitence and submission, did in conclusion resolve to use justice, but with the edge and point taken off and rebated; for whereas nothing leaveth that teint upon honour, which in a person of my lord's condition is hardliest repaired, in question of justice, as to be called to the ordinary and open place of offenders and criminals, her majesty had ordered that the hearing should be intra domesticos parietes, and not luce forensi. And whereas again in the Star-chamber there be certain formalities not fit in regard of example to be dispensed with, which would strike deeper both into my lord's fortune and reputation; as the fine which is incident to a sentence there given, and the imprisonment of the Tower, which in case of contempts that touch the point of estate doth likewise follow; her majesty turning this course had directed that the matters should receive, before a great honorable and selected council, a full and deliberate, and yet in respect a private, mild, and gracious hearing."

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Bacon's account of the whole proceeding is as follows: "And then did some principal counsellers send for us of the learned counsel, and notify her majesty's pleasure unto us, save that it was said to me openly by one of them, that her majesty was not yet resolved whether she would have me forborn in the business or no. And hereupon might arise that other sinister and untrue speech that I heard is raised of me, how I was a suitor to be used against my Lord of Essex at that time: for it is very true, that I that knew well what had passed between the Queen and me, and what occasion I had given her both of distaste and distrust, incrossing her disposition, by standing steadfastly for my Lord of Essex, and suspecting it also to be a stratagem arising from some particular emulation, I writ to her two or three words of compliment, signifying to her majesty, that if she would be pleased to spare me in my Lord of Essex's cause, out of the consideration she took of my obligation towards him, I should reckon it for one of her greatest favours: but otherwise desiring her majesty to think that I knew the degrees of duties, and that not particular obligation whatsoever to any subject could supplant or weaken that entiredness of duty that I did owe and bear to her and her service; and this was the goodly suit I made, being a respect no man that had his wits could have omitted: but nevertheless I had a further reach in it; for I judged that day's work would be a full period of any bitterness or harshness between the Queen and my lord, and therefore if I declared myself fully according to her mind at that time, which could not do my lord any manner of prejudice, I should keep my credit with her ever after, whereby to do my lord service.”—Bacon's Apology, vol. vì. 256.

3 Z. Life, p. lx.

The following is the whole of that passage. "" There is formed in every thing a double nature of good, the one as every thing is a total or substantive in itself, the other as it is a part or member of a greater body; whereof the latter is in degree the greater and the worthier, because it tendeth to the conservation of a more general form: therefore we see the iron in particular sympathy moveth to the loadstone, but yet if it exceed a certain quantity, it forsaketh the affection to the loadstone, and like a good patriot moveth to the earth, which is the region and country of massy bodies; so may we go forward and see that water and

massy bodies move to the centre of the earth, but rather than to suffer a divulsion in the continuance of nature they will move upwards from the centre of the earth, forsaking their duty to the earth in regard of their duty to the world. This double nature of good and the comparative thereof is much more engraven upon man, if he degenerate not, unto whom the conservation of duty to the public ought to be much more precious than the conservation of life and being; according to that memorable speech of Pompeius Magnus, when being in commission of purveyance for a famine at Rome, and being dissuaded with great vehemency and instance by his friends about him, that he should not hazard himself to sea in an extremity of weather, he said only to them, Necesse est ut eam, non ut vivam.'

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4 A. Life, p. lxii.

As a patron he considered preferment a sacred trust for the encouragement of merit. Power to do good is, he says, the true and lawful end of aspiring, for good thoughts though God accept them, are little better than good dreams except they be put in act. "Detur digniori" was therefore his favourite maxim. "Qui beneficium digno dat, omnes obligat." And in this spirit, upon sending to Buckingham his patent for creating him a viscount, he says, "I recommend unto you principally, that which I think was never done since I was born; and that which because it was not done, hath bred almost a wilderness and solitude in the King's service; which is that you countenance and encourage and advance able men in all kinds, degrees, and professions. For in the time of the Cecils, the father and the son, able men were by design and of purpose suppressed: and though of late, choice goeth better, both in church and commonwealth, yet money and serving, and cunning canvasses, and importunity prevaileth too much. And in places of moment, rather make able and honest men yours, than advance those that are otherwise because they are yours."

And within a few weeks after he was appointed Lord Keeper, he thus wrote to a Clergyman of Trinity College.

66

After my hearty commendations, I, having heard of you as a man well deserving and of able gifts to become profitable in the church; and there being fallen within my gift the Rectory of Frome St. Quintin, with the Chapel of Evershot in Dorsetshire, which seems to be a thing of good value, 181. in the King's books and in a good county, I have thought good to make offer of it to you; the rather for that you are of Trinity College, whereof myself was some time. And my purpose is to make choice of men rather by care and inquiry, than by their own suits and commendatory letters. So I bid you farewell. From your loving Friend, FR. BACON, C. S.

From Dorset House, 23rd April, 1617.

To Mr. Massey, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.

4 B. Life, p. lxii.

In his advancement of learning he has thus explained the custom of the ancients in hearing the opposite reasonings of the same powerful mind, which has occasionally existed and did exist, in the time of Elizabeth, in our Courts of Justice in England.

Strange as, from our habits, this may be considered, there is nothing new in the suggestion. When Alexander was feasting one night where Calisthenes was at the table, it was moved by some after supper, for entertainment sake, that Calisthenes, who was an eloquent man, might speak of some theme or purpose, at his own choice: which Calisthenes did; choosing the praise of the Macedonian nation for his discourse, and performing the same with so good manner as the hearers were much ravished whereupon Alexander, nothing pleased, said, "It was easy to be eloquent upon so good a subject." "But," saith he, "turn your style, and let us hear what you can say against us:" which Calisthenes presently undertook, and did with that sting and life, that Alexander in

terrupted him, and said, "The goodness of the cause made him eloquent before, and despite made him eloquent again."

In the Harleian MSS. in the British Museum, it is stated as follows:Elizabeth, Queen of England, was a princess most entirely beloved of the people, for during her government pure justice and mercy did overflow in all courts of judicature, which made her so famous, that upon any motion abroad from her palace, many thousands would crowd into the streets and highways, to congratulate her with their loyalty, and loud acclamations sent up to heaven for her majesty's long life, health, and prosperity. And in this peerless queen's reign it is reported that there was but one serjeant-at-law at the Common Pleas bar (called Serjeant Benlowes) who was ordered to plead both for the plaintiff and defendant, for which he was to take of each party ten groats only and no more; and to manifest his impartial dealing to both parties, he was therefore to wear a party-coloured gown, and to have a black cap on his head of impartial justice, and under it a white linen coif of innocence, but in the reign of King James serjeants were made in abundance, and a serjeant's place sold for 8004.; and in the late King Charles the First's reign, the preferment to be a serjeant grew to a higher rate, for it was then raised to 1500l. and thirteen made at one time, so strangely differing are the proceedings in law in these latter times to the former, that requires the use of many lawyers, and they to have unreasonable fees.

And I understand that, within the last twenty years, when there was but one barrister at the Ely Sessions (Mr. Hart), he used to argue on both sides.

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This practice seems to have existed in all civilized countries, and countries approaching to civilization. In some travels in Africa, (Park's, if I mistake not) the author says, that the litigation is conducted, not by the parties themselves, but by persons called "palavers." Milton, in his history of Muscovy, two hundred years ago, vol. iv. 278, says, They have no lawyers, but every man pleads his own cause, or else by bill or answer in writing delivers it with his own hands to the duke; yet justice, by corruption of inferior officers, is much perverted. Where other proof is wanting, they may try the matter by personal combat or by champion. If a debtor be poor, he becomes bondman to the duke, who lets out his labour till it pay the debt; till then he remains in bondage.

In the Edinburgh Review for February, 1822, upon the question whether a prisoner accused of felony ought to be heard by counsel?-the author says, "Whence comes it, that the method of getting at truth, which is so excellent on all common occasions, should be considered as so improper on the greatest of all occasions, where the life of a man is concerned? If an acre of land is to be lost or won, one man says all that can be said on one side of the questionanother on the other; and the jury, aided by the impartiality of the judge, decide. The wit of man can devise no better method of disentangling difficulty, exposing falsehood, and detecting truth."

"Justice is found, experimentally, to be most effectually promoted by the opposite efforts of practised and ingenious men, presenting to the selection of an impartial judge, the best arguments for the establishment and explanation of truth. It becomes, then, under such an arrangement, the decided duty of an advocate to use all the arguments in his power to defend the cause he has adopted, and to leave the effect of those arguments to the judgment of others." -Sidney Smith.

Milton seems not to have been partial to the character of a lawyer. In his tract on education, vol. i. 276, he says, "Some, allured to the trade of law, grounding their purposes not on the prudent and heavenly contemplation of justice and equity, which was never taught them, but on the promising and pleasing thoughts of litigious terms, fat contentions, and flowing fees." Vol. ii.

56. "It is true an adulteress cannot be shamed enough by any public proceeding; but the woman whose honour is not appeached is less injured by a silent dismission, being otherwise not illiberally dealt with, than to endure a clamouring debate of utterless things, in a business of that civil secresy and difficult discerning, as not to be overmuch questioned by nearest friends; which

drew that answer from the greatest and worthiest Roman of his time, Paulus Emilius, being demanded why he would put away his wife for no visible reason? This shoe,' said he, and held it out on his foot, is a neat shoe, a new shoe, and yet none of you know where it wrings me;" much less by the unfamiliar cognizance of a feed gamester can such a private difference be examined, neither ought it.

"Sir,

The following extract is from Boswell's Life of Johnson, vol. ii. p. 162. I asked him whether, as a moralist, he did not think that the practice of the law, in some degree, hurt the fine feeling of honesty. Johnson. Why no, Sir, if you act properly. You are not to deceive your clients with false representations of your opinion: you are not to tell lies to a judge." Boswell. "But what do you think of supporting a cause which you know to be bad." Johnson. you do not know it to be good or bad till the judge determines it. I have said that you are to state facts fairly; so that your thinking, or what you call knowing, a cause to be bad, must be from reasoning, must be from your supposing your arguments to be weak and inconclusive. But, Sir, that is not enough. An argument which does not convince yourself, may convince the judge to whom you urge it; and, if it does convince him, why, then, Sir, you are wrong, and he is right. It is his business to judge; and, you are not to be confident in your opinion that a cause is bad, but to say all you can for your client, and then hear the judge's opinion." Boswell. "But, Sir, does not affecting a warmth when you have no warmth, and appearing to be clearly of one opinion, when you are in reality of another opinion, does not such dissimulation impair one's honesty? Is there not some danger that a lawyer may put on the same mask in common life, in the intercourse with his friends?" Johnson. " Why no, Sir. Every body knows you are paid for affecting warmth for your client; and it is, therefore, properly no dissimulation: the moment you come from the bar you resume your usual behaviour. Sir, a man will no more carry the artifice of the bar into the common intercourse of society, than a man who is paid for tumbling upon his hands will continue to tumble upon his hands when he should walk on his feet."

Lord Erskine, in his defence of Thomas Paine, says, I will for ever, at all hazards, assert the dignity, independence, and integrity of the English bar; without which impartial justice, the most valuable part of the English constitution, can have no existence. From the moment that any advocate can be permitted to say that he will or will not stand between the crown and the subject arraigned in the court where he daily sits to practise, from that moment the liberties of England are at an end.

If the advocate refuses to defend, from what he may think of the charge or of the defence, he assumes the character of the judge; nay, he assumes it before the hour of judgment; and, in proportion to his rank and reputation, puts the heavy influence of, perhaps, a mistaken opinion, into the scale against the accused, in whose favour the benevolent principle of English law makes all presumptions, and which commands the very judge to be his counsel.

The following extract is from the life of Sir M. Hale, 143. If he saw a cause was unjust, he for a great while would not meddle further in it, but to give his advice that it was so. If the parties after that would go on, they were to seek another counsellor, for he would assist none in acts of injustice. If he found the cause doubtful or weak in point of law, he always advised his clients to agree their business. Yet afterwards he abated much of the scrupulosity he had about causes that appeared at first view unjust, upon this occasion. There were

two causes brought to him, which by the ignorance of the party, or their attorney, were so ill represented to him, that they seemed to be very bad, but he, inquiring more narrowly into them, found they were really very good and just. So after this he slackened much of his former strictness, of refusing to meddle in causes upon the ill circumstances that appeared in them at first.

The administration of justice mainly depends upon the ability and the integrity of the bar. Who, in times when our liberties are threatened, when power is attempting to extend its influence; who but men of ability can be expected to resist these invasions? Is it to be expected that the herd who follow any body

VOL. XV.

8

that whistles to them, or drives them to pasture, will have the honesty and courage upon such occasions to despise all personal considerations, and to think of no consequence but what may result to the public from the faithful discharge of their sacred trust? When Sir Matthew Hale, in the case of Lord Craven, pleaded so forcibly for his client, that in those miserable times, he was threatened by the then Attorney General, with the vengeance of the government, "I am pleading," he replied, "in defence of those laws which the parliament have declared they will maintain and preserve; I am doing my duty to my client, and I am not to be daunted." The hardminded and mistaken Jefferies, said to Mr. Wallop, on Baxter's trial, "I observe you are in all these dirty causes, and were it not for you gentlemen of the long robe, who should have more wit and honesty than to uphold these factious knaves by the chin, we should not be at the pass we are at." Similar language disgraced the bench on the trial of the seven bishops, but Mr. Hale and Mr. Somers were not likely to be deterred by such conduct from the discharge of their duties.

4 C. Life, p. lxx.

Accounts of this trial may be found in Bacon's works, in the Sydney Papers, in Camden, and in Morrison. Bacon's account will be found in vol. vi. of this edition, p. 276. The accounts from the Sydney Papers, from Camden, and from Morrison are annexed.

Account of the Trial from the Sydney Papers.

Row. Whyte, Esq. to Sir Rob. Sydney. S. L. Vol. ii. p. 199. Penshurst, Friday night, 6 June, 1600.

Yesterday my lord of Essex was at my Lord Keeper's before commissioners appointed to hear his cause, and to-morrow I go to court, and will learn what I can of it, and advertise your lordship.

Row. Whyte, Esq. to Sir Rob. Sydney. S. L. Vol. ii. p. 199. Court in hast, Saturday, 7 June, 1600.

I am now newly come to court, where I hear how the matter passed upon Thursday, with my lord of Essex before the lords and other commissioners. The Attorney General, Serjeant Yelverton, her majesty's Solicitor, and Mr. Bacon, all of her highnes learned counsel, laid open his offences and contempts, during which time the earle himself kneeled at bord's end, and had a bundle of papers in his own hand, which sometimes he laid in his hat that was upon the ground by him. The effect of their speeches contained his making of my lord Southampton general of the horse, contrary to her majesty's pleasure; his making of knights; his going into Munster, contrary to his instructions; his return, being expressly commanded by her majesty's own letter to stay: all which points were by her majesty's learned counsel very gravely and sharply touched and propounded against him. His speech was very discreet, mild, and gentle, acknowledging that he had grievously offended her majesty in all these things objected against him, but with no malicious intent; and that if it would please their honors to give him leave, he would declare unto them the blind guides that led him to those errors, which in his opinion would have furthered her majesty's service. But then began my Lord Keeper, upon the reasons argued by her majesty's learned counsel, to deliver his opinion; that his contempts deserved to be imprisoned in the Towre, to be fined as deeply as ever subject was, to have his offices of counsellor, earl marshall, and master of the ordnance sequestered from him. My Lord Treasurer left out the Towre; my Lord Admiral the fine. Mr. Secretary made a wise grave speech of these contempts of his towards her majesty; all the rest spoke, condemning him greatly for contemptuously offending so gracious a sovereign; and it was concluded that he should return from the place he came, till her majesty's further pleasure were known. The poor earl then besought their honors to be a mean unto her majesty for grace and pardon; seeing there appeared in his offences no disloyalty towards her

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