A high-minded man would have aided his friend; a cautious man would have remained neutral; but Bacon was extravagant, fond of show, eager for money, and in debt:  he sought only to push his own fortunes, without regard to justice or gratitude, and he saw that he had everything to gain from his servility to the queen, and nothing from standing by his friend.  Even those who thought Essex justly punished, regarded Bacon with aversion and contempt, and impartial history has not reversed their opinion.

HIS APPOINTMENTS.—­He strove for place, and he obtained it.  In 1590 he was appointed counsel extraordinary to the queen:  such was his first reward for this conduct, and such his first lesson in the school where thrift followed fawning.  In 1593 he was brought into parliament for Middlesex, and there he charmed all hearers by his eloquence, which has received the special eulogy of Ben Jonson.  In his parliamentary career is found a second instance of his truckling to power:  in a speech touching the rights of the crown, he offended the queen and her ministers; and as soon as he found they resented it, he made a servile and unqualified apology.

At this time he began to write his Essays, which will be referred to hereafter, and published two treatises, one on The Common Law, and one on The Alienation Office.

In 1603 he was, by his own seeking, among the crowd of gentlemen knighted by James I. on his accession; and in 1604 he added fortune to his new dignity by marrying Alice Barnham, “a handsome maiden,” the daughter of a London alderman.  He had before addressed the dowager Lady Hatton, who had refused him and bestowed her hand upon his rival, Coke.

In 1613 he attained to the long-desired dignity of attorney-general, a post which he filled with power and energy, but which he disgraced by the torture of Peacham, an old clergyman, who was charged with having written treason in a sermon which he never preached nor published.  As nothing could be extorted from him by the rack, Bacon informed the king that Peacham “had a dumb devil.”  It should be some palliation of this deed, however, that the government was quick and sharp in ferretting out treason, and that torture was still authorized.

In 1616 he was sworn of the privy council, and in the next year inherited his father’s honors, being made lord keeper of the seal, principally through the favor of the favorite Buckingham.  His course was still upward:  in 1618 he was made lord high chancellor, and Baron Verulam, and the next year he was created Viscount St. Albans.  Such rapid and high promotion marked his great powers, but it belonged to the period of despotism.  James had been ruling without a parliament.  At length the necessities of the government caused the king to summon a parliament, and the struggle began which was to have a fatal issue twenty-five years later.  Parliament met, began to assert popular rights, and to examine into the conduct of ministers and high officials; and among those who could ill bear such scrutiny, Bacon was prominent.