Francis Bacon and his secret society - Grand Lodge of Colorado

AND HIS SECRET SOCIETY. 73
" It is certain that his conduct excited great and general
disapprobation." (Macaulay, p. 323.)
" The multitude loudly condemned him." (lb. 325 and 326.)
No indignation was exhibited against him on account of the
part which he took in Essex's trial. He was now honoured more
highly than before.
" That the lofty and gentle course which Bacon pursued
through these memorable events commanded the admiration of
all his contemporaries, save a faction of the defeated band, is a
fact of which the proofs are incontestible. ... If he were thought
of with aversion, here were the means, the opportunities for
condign revenge. . . . Did the friends of Lord Essex rise on his
adversaries? Was the . . . stone flung at Bacon? Just the
reverse. (Hepworth Dixon, " Story," p. 183.)
" The world had not been with the rebellious Earl, either in
his treason at Temple Bar or in his suffering at Tower Hill, and
those who had struck down the Papist plot were foremost in the
ranks of the new Parliament. Four years ago Bacon had been
chosen to represent Ipswich, and the chief town of Suffolk again
ratified its choice. But his public acts now won for him a second
constituency in St. Albans. Such a double return, always
rare in the House of Commons, was the highest compliment that
could be paid to his political life." (Hep. Dixon, " Story," p.
183. See 184-5, of the Queen revising Bacon's " Declaration"
as being too lenient to Essex; and notes, part iii. 149.)
Struck to the earth by the discovery of his corruption— Confessing
the truth of the charges brought against him— Treated as a
degraded man.
" Overwhelmed with shame and remorse." (Macaulay, p. 353.)
Lord Campbell quotes passages from Bacon's letter to the
King and Buckingham (where Bacon expresses his resolution to
indulge in no excuses if he has " partaken of the abuses of the
times " ) as a clear negative pregnant, admitting that the bribes
had been received. (See Campbell's Bacon, p. 172.)
See also his straightforward, modest appeal to the King, repudiating
the idea that he had " the troubled fountain of a corrupt