Francis Bacon and his secret society - Grand Lodge of Colorado

72 FRANCIS BACON
" To deprive him of all chance of mercy . . . Bacon compared
him to the Duke of Guise. . . . The Queen wished a
pamphlet to be written to prove that Essex was properly
put to death, and she selected Francis Bacon to write it. He,
without hesitation, undertook the task. . . . No honourable man
would purchase Bacon's subsequent elevation at the price of being
the author of this publication," etc. (Campbell, p. 64.)
His speech charging Essex commended as lenient — His conducting
of the trial explained as being obligatory; an official
duty, etc.
Basil Montagu. Spedding, ii. 367.
" Bacon closed the case in an eloquent and memorable speech.
His own relations with the Earl of Essex, he said, were at an end.
Yet, in spite of this avowal, he spoke as the Earl's advocate, rather
than as the Queen's ; charging him with hasty expressions, but
distinctly freeing him from the charge of disloyalty. Bacon 1 s speech
at York House saved Essex in his fortunes and his fame." (Hepworth
Dixon's Story of Bacon, p. 162, quoting from Chamberlain
to Carleton, July 1-26, 1600, Record Office ;
Confessions of
D. Hayward, July 11, 1600, R. 0. ; Abstract of Evidence against
Essex, July 22, 1600 ; Examination of Thos. Wright, July 24,
1600, R. O. ; Moryson, pt. ii. 68 ; Sydney Papers, ii. 200 ; and
see Personal Life.)
" Yet, even when it was made thus sternly and just by the
Queen, the
'
Declaration of the practises and treasons attempted
committed by Robt. Devereux, late Earl of Essex, and
his complices,' was, perhaps, the most gentle and moderate state
paper ever published in any kingdom," etc. (Hepworth Dixon's
Story, pp. 186-7; see, also, Prof. Fowler's Bacon, pp. 8, 9.)
He incurred the indignation and contempt of his contemporaries
on account of the part which he took in Essex's trial.
" The base ingratitude and the slavish meanness manifested
by Bacon on this occasion called forth the indignation of his
contemporaries. . . . For some time after Essex's execution,
Bacon was looked upon with aversion," etc. (Campbell, pp.
66, 68.)